Shining Remnants
by LifeNDeath72
Summary: The world of Remnant was a harsh world, filled with creatures of darkness, known as the Grimm. A certain whiskered boy, scours the city of Vale as a night-time vigilante, while making sure he makes it home in time for curfew. He then goes to Beacon Academy, where more adventure awaits him. Naruto/Team RWBY. A challenge fic requested by Storylover213.
1. Welcome to Beacon

**Life in Remnant**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or RWBY or any other stuff from different Xovers**

**Prelim Note: **This was a challenge fic requested by Storylover213, who I would like to thank for reminding me of this show and the base idea of this fic.

* * *

_Legends, stories gathered through time. Mankind has grown quite fond of recounting the exploits of Heroes and Villains. Forgetting so easily that we are Remnants, by-products of a forgotten past. _

_Man, born from Dust was strong, wise and resourceful. But he was born to an unforgiving world, an inevitable darkness, creatures of destruction, the creatures of Grimm set their sights on man and all of his creations. These forces clashed, and it seemed that darkness was intent on returning man's brief existence, to the void. _

_However, even the smallest spark of hope, is enough to ignite change. And in time man's passion, resourcefulness and ingenuity led them to the tools that would help even the odds. This power was appropriately named Dust. Nature's wrath in hand, man lit their way through the darkness. And in the shadow's absence came strength, civilization and most importantly, life. _

_But even the most brilliant lights eventually flicker and die. And when they are gone, darkness will return._

* * *

The city of Vale, on the continent of Vytal, was one of the most bustling cities on the continent. It was separated through districts and had a large river going through the middle. The city was also the host to Beacon Academy, the most prestigious Hunter Academy in the continent and rested atop a cliff to the east, overlooking Vytal's Emerald Forest.

Our story starts in a little shop in the Industrial District, an unremarkable one that sold pretty much anything and everything, ranging from food to the very coveted Dust.

_Ding-Dong!_

The bell attached to the store door chimed, signalling the clerk that someone has entered the humble shop. The shopkeeper, a young hired help walked to the counter and saw several men in matching suits.

"_Tacky…"_ The hired help mused, a small smirk playing on his hooded face as the suits parted and out came a man. The man's clothing was unnecessarily flashy, consisting of an oversized coat with fake fur lining and a matching feathered hat. The color was also a garish, flamboyant purple.

"Can I help you, sir?" The young man asked the wannabe pimp. He wasn't born then, but he has read about the old world and some of its history.

"Yes, you can." The pimp said as he flared his coat a little back, showing the Magitek hand-cannon on purpose. "Just let us take the Dust and we'll be on our way. Sound good?"

"I see." The young man nodded as he made no move. The henchmen began bringing out tubes to extract the Dust stored in the cylinders. "Is this the only store, your gang is hitting?"

The pimp, deciding to entertain the young man, answered the question. "Not quite. We have another friend, Roman. He is taking the one in the Commercial District." The suits began moving to the display case and was preparing to smash it open, to get the crystallized form of Dust.

"Um… please don't smash the cases." The clerk said as he tried stifling his laughter. "It comes out of my paycheck, you know."

_SMASH!_

"Ah, such a pity." The pimp consoled sarcastically.

"Jeez, tacky costumes and a bunch of idiots too?" The clerk said darkly, he began bawling his eyes out of sheer laughter at the stunned thugs. "Ah, I'm sorry. It's just, it's been a while since I got a store I work at, get robbed."

The pimp seemed to get tense at the continuing laughter of the clerk and gripped his hand-cannon. "What did you say, punk?" one of the suits piped in anger at the 'idiot' comment.

"Are you deaf, too? Well, I guess there's a first time for everything." The clerk said as he calmed down. The only thing the pimp and his thugs could see, was a smirk and traces of blonde hair under the man's hood. "I never fight people with disabilities. But still, I hope at least your eyes can keep up."

The thugs stood on guard as they saw the clerk disappear. They heard one of their friends cry out and saw him flying through the air. Turning to the direction he came from, they saw the clerk with his arm outstretched in a punch.

"Next."

"Get him!" The pimp yelled out as his henchmen pulled out Magitek swords. He himself loaded his hand-cannon and waited for an opening.

"Aww… weapons? I wanted a fistfight dammit!" The clerk whined as he placed his hand on his back and pulled out two white pistols with a guard and sapphire blue lines. They had an odd shape despite having only one barrel by the looks of it. They saw the clerk flip the grips horizontally, the hand-guards moved to the top of the hilt, where the trigger used to be and the guns' barrel closed and began extending to a sharp tip of a sword. The clerk then slammed the pommels together and spun it around his person. "All right, bring it!"

On cue, the thugs charged the clerk with their swords. He responded in kind by blocking one with the edge of his Dualblade and punching another in the face, who was about to sneak up on him. He broke the deadlock with the thug by kicking his wide-open stomach and detached half of his blade and shot the thug in the legs. He used the still blade-form other half to block a slash from the left and aimed the gun-form half on the thug's calves and kicking him away.

Two more thugs charged him, but the clerk turned both his weapons back into the Dualblade form and slid on his knees with his back arched very lowly, and spun the weapon over his face and cutting the tendons on the thugs' legs. Seeing all the current opposition immobilized he turned to the last person there.

The pimp seeing the display in skill with an otherwise impractical weapon, stood in shock that his whole thug squad he got from Junior was beaten. He raised the hand-cannon and fired a large bullet that had an explosive property. The clerk turned his Dualblade back into Twin Pistols and shot the explosive bullet, causing a small explosion and smoke erupting from the now destroyed windows.

"Back me up, you idiots!" He heard the pimp call out from outside the store. He followed along, but not before removing the standard worker's apron and placing it on the remains of the counter.

The clerk came out of the smoking building with his two guns in his hands again. "You see? This would have been a good old fistfight we could have had. But nooo, you had to pull out weapons."

"Shut up, you asshole!" The pimp exclaimed as he loaded another bullet to his hand-cannon. "What're you fools waiting for? Get him already!"

"Now, now, mind your language." The clerk chastised. As he shot a charging thug on the legs. He leapt back when two more got close and fired a spray aimed at their feet. Causing them to dance to avoid the bullets, but this left them wide open and the clerk took that time to switch to his weapon's Twin Sword mode and cut both dancing thugs' legs. He used the same weapons to block two slashes from both sides. He had his two swords grind his opponents' and used that to end the deadlock, he then cut their legs' tendons and looked for any other fighters.

Seeing none, he turned to the pimp and saw him climbing a ladder out of the area. He could faintly hear the police and firemen's sirens, and knew he needed to get out. He still had to follow the law and he didn't feel like getting questioned on his methods.

He snapped his fingers discreetly as a bluish purple glow surrounded his body before dying out. He then ran up the wall to catch the pimp, using his more excellent parkour skills to catch up.

"Stay back, you freak!" The pimp shouted as he took aim.

"How rude. I was just gonna ask if you were planning on paying for your purchase." The clerk said. The pimp could barely see a smile on the man's face. But it was not out of happiness. No, it was the sickeningly sweet smile that promised pain, and the pimp knew he was outmatched.

"W-Wait! Can't we sort out a deal here? Your skills can get you real far in this line of work!" The pimp asked, trying to buy some time until the Airship can pick him up. His finger was still hot on the trigger.

"Not Interested." The clerk said plainly as he vanished and gave the pimp a chop to the neck, knocking him out. The clerk took a look at his watch as his eyes widened. "Shit! Mom's gonna be furious if she finds out!" He hoisted the pimp by the belt buckle before chucking him across the rooftops, to the direction the store and the police was at.

He brushed off all the soot on his clothes as the wind blew his hood away. Revealing spiky sun-kissed blonde hair that jutted out in all directions, his front bangs were messy but did not impede his vision. His eyes were a bright cerulean blue behind a pair of regular black-rimmed rectangular glasses and his skin was slightly tanned. His face was distinct in having six whisker-like markings on his cheeks.

He saw an Airship, flying away from the Commercial District while several Dust spells kept flying from both it and the buildings. Seeing as his own was still active, he leapt through the rooftops to get back home quickly.

* * *

He arrived at the front door to their house. It was in the Upper-Class section of Vale, they formerly lived on Patch Island near Signal Academy, but they moved here when his father gained a job in Dust Research.

He gave himself a look-over, checking if he was still wet in some places. He needed to swim across the river to get here and he used a minor Fire spell to dry his clothes. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he slowly opened the door and saw the lights were all out. He began sneaking to his room, trying his hardest not to make any sound.

"Naru-chan…"

He stopped in horror as he slowly creaked his head and saw his mother, Kushina Namikaze, sitting on a chair with a dimly lit lamp next to her. She had a stern, yet concerned look on her face as she gazed at her son.

Sighing in defeat, he gave a small wave to her. "H-Hi, Mom. I-I'm fine, honestly!" He placated nervously. She picked up the remote and turned on the late evening news. It showed both the events In the Commercial District and the crime scene at the Industrial District.

"_Was that Ruby?"_ Naruto thought upon seeing the captured footage, which showcased his childhood friend, fighting a bunch of robbers and trying to help Glynda Goodwitch take down the robbers' airship.

"Care to explain this Naruto?" Our hero, Naruto Namikaze turned and saw his father, Minato Namikaze, leaning by the door drinking a cup of coffee. He had a lot of work to do, so he took his work home most of the time.

"Um… well, you see that pimp wannabe came, and I was just gonna let him take the Dust and call the cops afterward." Naruto explained. "But then he started smashing the cases, and that would come out of my paycheck, you know? So I kicked his ass and beat up his thugs."

Minato raised his hand telling his son to stop. Kushina took ths opportunity to speak her concerns. "Naru-chan, why do you keep this up? You could get seriously hurt if you keep doing this."

"I'm fine, Mom. Really!" Naruto said. "It's just… it's my dream to be a protector of the people. I don't want those thugs or hell, even the Grimm terrorizing the people who can't defend themselves."

"We know." Minato began. "But doing it this way… eventually people are gonna catch you in the act. We can't keep having this conversation, Naruto. I just feel it would be best if you were an official peace-keeper, instead of a vigilante from the shadows."

"We're just concerned for you, Naru-chan." Kushina chimed in. "The Grimm may be powerful monsters, but the most dangerous opponents to face will always be other humans. Remember?"

Naruto just nodded. It was a hard lesson he learned back when he started looking for trouble when he was 14. It got both him and his two childhood friends in so much trouble, he had to wait for the proper authorities to save them. True, he was stronger now and it was all thanks to his parents.

"Alright, now that that's settled." Minato began as he took out a emerald-green crystal. "Naruto, is your Anti-Gravity power still working properly?"

"Yeah, I just used it to get here. And when I chased after that jerk." Naruto replied. It was a spell he activated by snapping his fingers and let him run up walls, survive long falls and have higher jumps.

"Acceleration?" Minato asked about the second one. It allowed Naruto to run at high speed, but drains fast, so he only activated it when he's about to run. Naruto replied that it was still fine. "And the Water-Running power?" Minato continued.

"Busted. I had to swim across the river and dry myself with a Fire spell, which is also busted now." Naruto said as he pulled out a sea-blue crystal and a red-orange crystal and handed them to his father.

"Alright, I'll work on them later." Minato said. His job entailed trying to find out new powers accessible through Dust, so he often had Naruto help with the trial phases of new ones. He let Naruto keep the first Anti-Gravity crystal and handed him the emerald-green crystal. "That contains a wind manipulation power. One of the few that will be released soon for public use."

"Ah, Naru-chan!" Kushina called as she was heating up some leftovers from dinner. "We got a message earlier saying, Beacon Academy invited you to attend their school. Are you interested?"

"Eww… no way. I hate studying…" Naruto said as he attached the new crystal he had to his weapons' elemental slot. "Besides… how did they even scout me? I'm pretty sure I kept discretion during my activities."

"Well…" Kushina looked sheepish.

"What did you do?" Naruto asked. As if the roles of parent and child were reversed.

"We kinda… sent them some footage and a location of one of your outings." Kushina said nervously. Naruto just sighed, seeing no way out of this other than flat-out refusal.

"The answer is still no…"

"She's gonna be there." Kushina pitched. She didn't want to play this card, but Naruto was being really stubborn.

"Who?"

"Yang Xiao Long." Kushina said. She very well knew of her son's crush on his blonde childhood friend, and it would probably be the only way he would bother attending Beacon Academy.

"Again, who?" Naruto asked confusedly.

Kushina whispered in his ear. She forgot that the girl had a tendency of going by different names and Naruto hasn't seen her in such a long time and had little means to contact her due to always finding trouble. "She goes by that name now? Whatever… I'm in!" Naruto took the reheated dinner in a small box as he made his way to his room.

"Great! Now, get your stuff ready. You gotta get to the port early tomorrow." Kushina said. Once Naruto was gone, she gave a tired sigh. She was actually rooting that he pick Ruby, she wanted some red in the family, other than herself after all.

* * *

The next day, Naruto woke up early, he had to practice with his new element, and how it affects his Dualblade style. He found that the wind let him extend his blades' reach and has added a stronger piercing property to his bullets.

Right now he was walking to the port where the Airship, would take him to Beacon Academy. He now wore a plain black, short-sleeved shirt with a blue spiralling lightning bolt design on the stomach area. He wore regular blue jeans that had two white lines going down the outer legs. He had on a silver studded belt to hold up his pants with a small pouch on the right side, behind his belt was a pair of black holsters in an x-formation that had two extra loose straps, which carried his Twin Swords, since that was their default mode. Over his shirt was a cerulean blue, long-sleeved jacket with an upturned collar and the hood up, obscuring his upper face, just like the night before. He had black finger-less gloves and black boots with sapphire blue laces that reached slightly above his ankles. The last accessories he had was a green gem attached to a black cord around his neck and his glasses. Though he was far from being blind without them.

He wanted to wear his usual orange effects, but felt that would give him away too early. Nobody else wore that much orange other than himself, after all.

He felt someone bump into him from behind. Turning to look, he saw a blonde teen with blue-eyes a little darker in shade to his. He had a black hoodie over an orange shirt, light blue jeans and black boots. He had a white chest-plate and matching shoulder bracers. Brown belts and straps as well as gloves, combined with the regular looking sword on his waist gave him a modern-medieval knight look.

"You okay?" Naruto asked as he helped the guy up.

"Yeah, yeah, it's nothing, I meant to bump into you." The guy excused lamely.

"Yeah, sure." Naruto replied, not buying it one bit. He thought the guy looked a little flaky. Of course, he knew all too well to never underestimate someone.

"I'm sorry, where are my manners." The guy began, getting Naruto's attention. "My name is Jaune Arc." He introduced while holding his hand out to shake.

"Naruto Namikaze." He shook Jaune's hand.

"So, are you going to Beacon, too?" Jaune asked, trying to make a new friend.

"Against my will, yes. But it's not all bad." Naruto mused as he thought of seeing Yang again.

"Well, here's hoping we get along!" Jaune said with a smile. Naruto just smiled and nodded as well. The guy wasn't all bad, he felt the guy had a good heart and had potential. "So, uh, why do you keep your hood up? Isn't that a little shady?"

"It's a surprise for someone." Naruto replied simply.

Jaune just nodded as he and Naruto boarded the Airship. The whiskered blonde felt the thing get ready for takeoff and made himself comfortable, he scouted out the people on board and could see a few that looked remarkable. He was no stranger to Beacon's team system, a 4-man cell that can be co-ed or all boys/girls.

"You look pretty strong." Jaune commented.

"Thanks, mostly self-taught. My mom doesn't know how to hold more than 1 weapon and my dad is a techie." Naruto elaborated. "But it was more than enough."

"Self-taught, huh?" Jaune pondered. He had a hard thinking look on his face.

"Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me!" A familiar voice said. Naruto turned and he saw Yang and Ruby on the ship as it took off. "This is the best day ever!" Yang exclaimed as she continued hugging Ruby, who started to look blue.

"Please… stop…" Ruby wheezed out.

"I'm so proud of you!" Yang said giddily.

"Believe me, sis. It was nothing." Ruby began. Naruto leaned his head a little to listen in as Yang asked what Ruby meant. "I don't want to be the bee's knees. I don't want to be any kind of knees. I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees."

"What's with you? Aren't you excited!?" Yang questioned.

"Of course, I'm excited." Ruby said. "It's just, I've been moved ahead two years. I don't want people to think I'm special or anything."

Yang just slung her arm around Ruby's shoulder. "But you are special." She consoled.

The two took that time to listen in on the news, and Naruto tilted his hood up a little to get a good look at them.

Ruby had her usual black hair with red streaks and her exotic silver eyes. She wore a black blouse with a red corset-like middle, with criss-crossing black strings. She had a black belt that had several extra rounds of ammunition and her silver rose symbol on it. Her skirt was black with red trimmings at the bottom. She had black stockings on and black boots with dark red laces and soles that reached just below her knees. Her red hooded cloak was fastened to her shoulders through silver cross-shaped pins. Her folding scythe/gun was sheathed on her lower back.

Yang, had her golden blonde hair long and messy. Her lilac eyes were shining with both mischief and excitement. She wore a dark tan jacket with black arm bands over a yellow shirt that showed off her cleavage and midriff, it also had her flame-like symbol in black. She had short black bike shorts and over that was a dark-tan belt with pouches and a matching back skirt and a white one underneath it. Her belt also held a small dark-tan banner that had her symbol in yellow this time. She had asymmetrical orange socks with the left on going over the knee and the right below the knee. She had a pale blue bandana on the left leg and had brown boots with a yellow line on the inner side and it reached to below her knees. She had black finger-less gloves that reached slightly above her wrists and yellow bracelets, her weapons. The last accessory was the orange scarf wrapped neatly around her neck.

Naruto was snapped out of his analysis, when a hologram of Glynda Goodwitch appeared where the news report was ended. "Hello and welcome to Beacon, My name is Glynda Goodwitch, you are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy."

Naruto just tuned out the rest, since it was the same rehearsed speech that was no doubt been given before. He saw his two friends move to the window, he also saw Jaune looking a little green.

"Look! You could see Signal from up here!" Ruby said. "I guess home isn't too far after all."

Yang slung her arm across Ruby's shoulder. "Beacon's our home now."

"I wish Naruto could have attended though." Ruby muttered. Naruto was older than her by a year, making him 16, while the normal attendance age is 17.

"Yeah." Yang agreed as she touched her orange scarf. She too wanted their friend to have been able to attend. Neither seeing nor hearing from the boy for nearly 2 years.

Of course, Naruto heard the sisters' talk and tilted his hood down a little. Jaune looked about ready to spill his breakfast, and no doubt his gagging noises would cause people to look in his direction.

As if on cue, Jaune made Naruto's inward prediction come true and he began to run off to solve his problem. He could see from the way her body was facing him, that Yang was still staring at him or at least in his direction. She turned away after a while to comment on Jaune's misfortune.

"Well I guess, the view isn't for everyone." Yang said.

"It was a nice moment while it lasted." Ruby agreed. "I wonder who we're gonna meet."

"Well, I just hope they're better than vomit boy." Yang commented. As part of the area were Jaune was puking his guts out, turned to chaos, when a drop of it spilled onto someone.

* * *

The Airship ride was slowly coming to a close. Naruto stood up and he saw that Yang and Ruby, were now looking at his direction. He just did some stretches to get rid of the kinks in his long time leaning against the wall. He saw that Jaune was now collecting himself after his little episode.

The Airship prepared its docking sequence, and Naruto made his way near the door. His luggage only consisted of a military sack, with some inconsequential stuff. Unlike Ruby, his guns used a warping ability to load the chambers with bullets he had in a cargo container at the port, it was still a prototype, but it has been working fine for the whole year.

Once the ship touched down, Jaune ran ahead to puke some more, the landing was shaky enough to warrant such a thing again.

"Whoa…" Ruby and Yang expressed their awe simultaneously. While Naruto disliked schools, he had to admit, that Beacon was a great sight to see with your own eyes.

"The view from Vale's got nothing on this." Yang commented while folding her arms. Naruto saw Ruby go into her 'weapon-nerd' mode as she began listing off the various weapons she was seeing. Yang had to pull her back, in fear she might get lost. "Easy there, little sister. They're just weapons."

"Just weapons?" Ruby began. "They're an extension of ourselves! They're a part of us! Oh, they're so cool!"

"Well, why can't you swoon over your own weapon? Aren't you happy with it?" Yang questioned. Ruby then completely unfurled her scythe.

"Of course, I'm happy with Crescent Rose!" She swooned as she hugged her scythe. "I just like seeing new ones… It's like meeting new people… but better…" She muttered the last part more to herself.

"Ruby, come on." Yang began as she pulled Ruby's hood over her face. "Why don't you try making friends of your own? Naruto would have wanted that. You know how he always said that making friends would always benefit you."

Ruby would have retorted and said she only needed the two of them, but Yang cut her off, by running away with her friends. Naruto slowly made to follow, they had free reign to wander the campus until the ceremony starts, he was standing near Jaune and gave him a pat on the back, both to show some support and help him empty the rest of his stomach.

* * *

When Naruto left, Jaune saw that it was only him and Ruby left in the entry courtyard. He decided to help Ruby up before heading to the opening ceremony and introduced himself to the girl. Ruby stifled a laugh as she was helped up by the 'guy-who-threw-up'.

"I'm just saying motion sickness is a lot more common problem than people let on." Jaune reasoned. The two were wandering near a fountain, with Ruby listening on Jaune's excuses.

"Look, I'm sorry." Ruby apologized. "Vomit boy was the first thing that came to mind."

"Oh, yeah? What if I called you crater face?"

"Hey that explosion was an accident!"

"Yeah, well. The name's Jaune Arc, short, sweet and rolls of the tongue." He said confidently. "Ladies love it."

"Do they?" Ruby had a knowing smirk.

"T-They will! Well, I hope they will…" Jaune reassured himself. "My mom always said… never mind" He finished dejectedly.

"Sooo… I got this thing." Ruby said as she unfurled Crescent Rose.

"Whoa… is that a scythe?" Jaune asked nervously. Ruby then told him it also doubles as a sniper rifle. She asked what Jaune had. "Oh, I got this sword. Got a shield too." He said as he made the sword's sheathe unfold into a standard shield.

"So what do they do?" Ruby asked as she tapped the shield causing Jaune to fumble with it.

"The shield gets smaller, so when I get tired of carrying it… I can just… put it away…" He explained as he felt a little small compared to Ruby's weapon. He agreed on Ruby's assumption that the shield still weighed the same.

"Well… ehehe… I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons." Ruby admitted sheepishly. "I guess I did go a little overboard in designing it."

"Wait, you made that?"

"Of course! All students at Signal make their own weapons." Ruby explained. Jaune then explained that his sword was a hand-me-down used by his great-great-grandfather in the war. "Sounds more like a family heirloom to me!" Ruby assured nervously. "Well, I like it! Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days."

"Yeah, the classics…"

"So, why'd you help me out back there in the courtyard?" Ruby questioned.

Jaune was happy they got into a different topic. "Meh, why not? My mom always said, 'strangers are just friends you haven't met yet.'"

"That's a nice outlook…" Ruby sighed. She wasn't exactly good at making friends.

"Yeah, I met this guy named Naruto earlier…" Jaune began as Ruby's eyes widened at the name given. "He said he was going here against his will. He looked pretty tough, so I thought he was already well-trained in fighting… err, Ruby?" He saw the girl looking at him with her mouth open in shock.

"This Naruto, what did he look like?" Ruby composed herself enough to ask a question, and most likely prevent her from accidentally swallowing a bug.

"Hmm… a lot of blue, two swords by his back waist, hooded…" Jaune continued to list off some of the things he noticed about his friend earlier. "… It was small but I think I saw blonde hair under that hood."

"Why isn't he with you?" Ruby asked, while her thoughts were elsewhere. _"He was that shady-looking guy in the ship?_ _Wait, he's here! Yang is gonna be so thrilled! Heck, I'm thrilled! Though he does need to get punched for hiding his identity…" _She thought as she remembered the hooded guy from the airship.

"Oh, well… Earlier, they said once we arrive, we were free to tour the campus until the opening ceremony begins…" Jaune said. "I guess he just wandered off…"

"I see…" Ruby sighed. "Hey, where are we going?"

"Hm? I dunno, I was just following you..." Jaune looked around and saw only themselves at the fountain. "You think there might be a directory?" Jaune continued looking for ways to get them back on track before the opening ceremony begins. Ruby just opted to retrace their steps back to the courtyard.

* * *

Naruto just leaned on a wall by a corner in the Amphitheatre, where the opening ceremony would take place. He scanned the place for Ruby and Jaune, he was kind of friends with his fellow blonde now, so he was a little concerned. He saw Yang enter the hall, with some of her friends a few minutes later.

Other than those three, Naruto had no friends here at Beacon. All the others were either at Signal, or the various other prep schools for Beacon. He saw that the ceremony was still in preparation and saw Ruby and Jaune enter the area. He saw Ruby looking around, he knew she already saw Yang, she was easy to notice after all. So the only possible reason was that Jaune spilled the beans of him being here.

"Ruby! Over here!" Yang waved her sister over. "I saved you a spot!"

"Oh, hey. I gotta go." Ruby excused herself from Jaune. "See you after the ceremony!"

"Hey wait!" Jaune called out, but was ignored. "Great, now where am I supposed to find a nice, quirky girl to talk to?"

"How's your first date going, little sister?" Yang teased.

"You mean since you ditched me and I exploded?" Ruby countered. Yang asked what she meant, and she explained how after Yang left her, she ran into some girl's luggage and how said girl began yelling at her, and she sneezed some Fire element Dust on her.

Ruby was completely oblivious to the slowly creeping form of Weiss Schnee behind her, as she continued explaining her troubles to Yang.

Weiss was a young girl, with snow-white hair tied in a high off-centre ponytail on the back of her head with black icicle pins. She had icy-blue eyes with her left eye having a small scar running through it and was pale as snow. She wore a pale blue bolero jacket with a red inside which had more noticeable blue near her wrists and had a thigh-length dress in the same color with black lace along the neck and a white ribbon by her waist that had a light grey pouch at the back and her rapier at the left side. She had calf-length, white, heeled boots. She had an apple-shaped necklace and two thin rectangular earrings for accessories. Her snowflake symbol was on the back of her jacket and was barely see-able, due to having a similar color to the rest of her outfit.

"You!" Weiss yelled from behind her causing Ruby to jump on Yang's arms.

"Oh god! It's happening again!"

"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" Weiss reprimanded.

"Oh my god, you really exploded." Yang said blankly.

"It was an accident. It was an accident!" Ruby reasoned as Weiss pulled out a flyer and held it to her face. Weiss began reading off the disclaimer of her company to Ruby, who looked a little lost.

"You really want to start making things up to me?" Weiss asked. Ruby gave an affirmative and Weiss just gave her the flyer. "Read this and don't ever speak to me again."

Yang tried to diffuse the tension between the two. "Look, it sounds like you just got off on the wrong foot. Why don't you start over and try to be friends, okay?" She finished with a smile.

Ruby agreed and held out her hand to shake Weiss'. "Great idea, sis! Hello, Weiss. I'm Ruby." She began with a smile. "Wanna hang out? We could go shopping for school supplies." She said the last part in a sing-song voice.

"Yeah! And we can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys like tall, blonde and… scraggly over there." She said sarcastically while pointing to Jaune who suddenly had hearts in his eyes. "Or even maybe Mr. Mysterious over there in the corner." She added pointing to Naruto who was nodding off in his corner.

"Wow, really?" Ruby asked hopefully.

"No." Weiss deadpanned.

Ruby looked dejected, but then a look of realization hit her face at Weiss' last actual comment. She turned in that direction and saw Naruto's hooded form. Yang looked curious as to why Ruby was looking at him.

"Ruby, what's wrong?" Yang asked.

"That's Naruto." She answered pointing to the hidden blonde who was successful in nodding off. Yang felt her eyes widen at Ruby's accusation. The two were about to confront their friend, but the lights dimmed, meaning the ceremony was about to begin. They decided to talk to him later.

"I'll keep this brief…" They heard Headmaster Ozpin say over the microphone. Naruto jolted awake, since he was near one and he could see that Ruby and Yang were laughing at his misfortune. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people."

"_Don't really need to, but if going official means getting it done, then by all means." _Naruto thought. Naruto hated book work, he likes reading books only for pleasure and he was more of a hands-on type.

"But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy." Ozpin continued. "In need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you, to take the first step." Ozpin finished, discreetly sending a glance at Naruto's way, before taking his leave and having Glynda take the stage.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight." She instructed. "Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready." She dismissed them before leaving.

"He seemed kinda off…" Yang commented.

"Almost like he wasn't even there." Ruby added.

"I'm a natural blonde, you know." Jaune said as he began hitting on Weiss.

"Speaking of blondes…" Yang began as she turned and saw Naruto walking out the Amphitheatre. "Hey, wait!" She called out as she tried to catch up, but the flood of students prevented her from doing so. Ruby followed after her, with Weiss already leaving and trying to avoid Jaune. They just sighed and followed the crowd to the ballroom, since it was getting late.

* * *

"It's like a big slumber party!" Yang shouted as she flopped down next to Ruby, using her arm to keep her head up.

"I don't think dad would approve of all the boys though." Ruby said as she wrote on her letter for her friends at Signal Academy.

"Aww… you're just saying that, since Naruto isn't walking around shirtless." Yang purred as she scouted the various males in pajamas. The comment caused Ruby to flush red, like her cloak and tried to clear her thoughts and focus on her letter. Jaune walked by and Yang had to look away at the sight of the overly-flirtatious boy.

"S-Shut up! Besides you know he likes you…" Ruby defended while whispering the last part.

"Well, if it's my sister…" Yang trailed off as Ruby threw a pillow at her face and tried burying her own in the sheets. The thought of the three of them like that was causing her pale skin to slowly turn into a bright, luminescent red.

"So what's that?" Yang continued moving away from the earlier topic. She knew Naruto won't be showing up here since he preferred sleeping outside. According to an old letter from his mom, his room in the Upper-Class District was a small, retractable glass dome on the roof with lots of plants and flowers.

"A letter to the gang back at Signal." Ruby explained how she promised to tell them about Beacon. "Unlike you I didn't get to have my friends come here with me." Ruby said thankful that the conversation was on a different topic now. "It's weird, not knowing anyone here."

"What about Jaune? He's… nice. There you go, plus one friend! That's a hundred percent increase!" Yang said optimistically. Ruby just said that Weiss, counted as a negative friend and that put her back to zero. "There's no such thing as a negative friend, you just made one friend and one enemy, who will become your friend later, if we go by Naruto's method." She got another pillow to the face.

Yang reassured Ruby that everyone there is a potential friend that she hasn't met yet. Ruby sat up and saw a girl who helped her out earlier at the courtyard. She and Yang walked over to initiate some conversation.

* * *

"Such a lively bunch…" Naruto commented from a tree he was going to rest at. He heard the commotion the four girls had made, though he could only hear three voices arguing. He looked to the shattered moon, with a small smile.

It was the first day in a long time since he had no other agenda for the night. His hood was down as the wind blew on his face.

"So, you've accepted the invite." He heard Ozpin's voice come from below him. He saw the Headmaster looking up at him from the rather wide branch he was sitting on. "On another note, why aren't you in the ballroom?"

"More like I had an incentive to come here." Naruto said before answering the unimportant question. "And if my Mom told you anything, you should know I prefer sleeping outside."

"Well, she didn't say much about your preferences." Ozpin stated.

"Heh, then you better make sure that dorm room has a big-ass balcony." Naruto began. "Otherwise I might just grab a sleeping bag and place it up here."

"You're quite quick to assume you'll survive the initiation." Ozpin commented.

"You saw my skills and you were probably stalking me during one of my excursions." Naruto retorted. "I'm pretty sure I can handle whatever you throw at me."

"Oh, I know you can." Ozpin stated. "I'm just wondering if you have what it takes to work well together with strangers. You've been working on your own, not even your friends from both Signal and the three here know what you've been up to in the past two years."

"Counting Jaune already, huh?"

"So tell me, why the vigilante act?" Ozpin pried. "Do you feel the need to bring about your own set of justice? Or is it something more?"

"Maybe if I find more reasons to trust you, I could give you the answer to that." Naruto said as he slowly grew drowsy.

Ozpin nodded. "Very well. Enjoy your stay at Beacon Academy." He bid him a good night and left Naruto to his own devices.

Naruto returned his gaze to the moon as his eyes slowly closed, letting sleep overtake him. He gave a small smile as he fell asleep, happy at the fact Ruby and Yang were here. Hell, even Jaune too.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

This was a challenge fic that Storylover213 requested. And the longest first chapter I have ever written.

His original request was for an OC-centric story, but after seeing the crap-ton of OC-centric ones (in the normal RWBY section) and my own personal preference of not writing those. He relented and requested a Xover instead.

The only rules were that Ruby, Yang and Naruto were childhood friends. Naruto is born in the world of Remnant and his parents were alive. The pairing is Ruby/Yang/Naruto, but he gave permission that I can add others if enough requested. Currently I have an idea for adding Weiss.

This will follow RWBY canon, but since the series is so damn short, I decided to make this have an 'Academy of Adventure' vibe. And maybe an altered version of Naruto canon to fit the world of Remnant. Original Arcs, Daily Life in a military-like school, and Character Episode chapters are very likely.

Naruto's weapons is the Dualblade that Hubert Oswell from Tales of Graces f had. As per our agreement, his weapon can switch to DualBlade/Twin Swords (Default mode)/Twin Pistols. The only thing cut out was the Bow mode, but it was inconsequential. So his Twin Guns can combine into a rifle like Sazh's from FFXIII. His guns look like the ones Haseo from .hack had, but modified to have a physical blade and the two yellow, reverse daggers are not present, it is nearly pure white in color and has blue lines for design. The sword, well… just imagine the guns in a broadsword form. I'd draw it myself, but I have no scanner and I naturally suck at drawing.

The Anti-Gravity power is similar to Lightning's Grav-con Unit from FFXIII, and gives him an excuse to do Surface/Tree-walking, Acceleration lets him do a faster version of the Ninja run and other high-speed motions. And Wind, well… what kind of Naruto has no wind powers?

His color scheme is blue instead of orange, he still loves the color though. As is the reason he has glasses, this is in part to both his fighting style and his (first) two girls: Ruby (Red), Yang (Yellow) and Naruto (Blue) = primary colors, Pokemon R/B/Y, they mix to make other colors, a camera's CMYK color model, etc.

I think I addressed all that needs to be addressed. Chapter 2 which will compose of the Emerald Forest arc.

Edited: Team recs are now closed and you'll see who they are in the next chapter.


	2. The Emerald Forest

**The Emerald Forest**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

**Prelim Note:** Thanks to all the people who sent in recommendations. Please don't be sad if the character/team you gave didn't make it. I had to get some help from my massive otaku sibling, when it came to decision time, and I couldn't let this fic fall into obscurity.

* * *

The morning sun slowly rose on the horizon, illuminating the streets of Vale and the campus of Beacon Academy. All manner of creatures began to arise from their slumber, and proceed to go about their early morning routines to start off the day.

Except one.

For one Naruto Namikaze, he didn't need to do such things. As he was still sleeping while perched atop his tree. For this young man, the only down-side he could think of, while sleeping outside would be the fact that the sun often shone directly in his face, thus rousing him from his sleep. However, this was not the case in this particular instance.

The tree he took residence in, was perfect for watching the sunset. Meaning the sun would be rising behind him. If he were awake, he would've thanked Beacon for having such a wonderful tree that was wide enough to sleep on and not fall off.

_Shuffle… shuffle…_

The sleeping blonde felt something touching his face, yet he only batted it away with a hand before continuing his rest. He felt the thing touch his face again, specifically the nose, which began to have a reaction at the foreign object tickling it.

_Ah-choo!_

Naruto sneezed. Not too loudly to cause the others living in the tree to scurry away in fear. But enough to rouse him from his sleep as he slowly opened his eyes, and rubbed the sleep off his face. He drowsily looked around for the source of his momentary grief, only to find nothing there. Shrugging lazily, he made way to go back to sleep.

"WAKE UP! LAZY BUM!"

Only to jolt fully awake at the yelled statement, that came from the group inside the ballroom. He had a sour look, as he dusted himself off before jumping to the ground and wandering off to wherever his feet would take him to.

* * *

The source of the earlier wake-up call, was from none other than Nora Valkyrie. A bubbly and extremely cheerful young girl. The target of her call was none other than her childhood friend Lie Ren, who woke up and performed his morning routine as he listened to his friend's continuous talking.

Nora has short orange hair and turquoise eyes. She wore a collared black vest that reached to her waist. Underneath was a sleeve-less white top that had a heart-shaped cut-out in the middle along with red and light blue clothing near the waist. She wore white detached sleeves which ended below her elbows and pink finger-less gloves on her hands. A mid-thigh length, pink skirt and white ankle-high boots with pink laces and soles.

Ren has messy black hair tied in a mid-back length ponytail. He had a small streak of magenta on the left side, as well as matching eyes. He wore a forest green tailcoat that was tied with gold clasps along a black design going to his right side. The coat had a red inside and his wrists suggest he had a long-sleeved black shirt underneath. He wore light tan pants and black shoes to finish off his look.

"I know! We'll have some sort of signal!" Nora pitched as she enthusiastically hopped around. She was trying to find a way to stay partners with Ren, since they have been together for almost their whole lives. "Like a distress signal. A secret signal, so we can find each other in the forest. Can you imitate a sloth?"

"Nora. I don't think sloths make a lot of noise." Ren stated as he tucked away his two guns in his sleeves.

"That's why it's perfect! No one would suspect we're working together!" Nora agreed, completely missing Ren's point.

"Come on, Nora. Let's go." Ren said as he closed his locker.

"But not, 'Together' together." Nora added with a giggle as the two left the locker room.

"Wonder what those two were so worked up about." Ruby said as she saw the previous duo walk past her and Yang, who seemed to be looking for someone.

"Oh, who knows? Where is that idiot?" Yang muttered since she hasn't even seen Naruto at all, either at breakfast or at the locker room. "So, you seem awfully chipper this morning."

"Yup. No more awkward small talk or 'getting to know you' stuff." Ruby began as she picked up Crescent Rose from her locker. "Today, I get to let my sweetheart do the talking." She said as she cooed at her weapon.

"Well, remember Ruby. You're not the only one going through initiation." Yang began as she shifted her weight to the other leg. "If you wanna grow up, you're going to have to meet new people and learn to work together."

"Ugh… You sound like Dad!" Ruby complained as she placed her weapon on her back waist. "First of all, what does meeting new people have to do with fighting? And secondly I don't need people to help me grow up. I. Drink. Milk." She finished as she crossed her arms smugly.

"But what about when we form teams?" Yang countered.

"I dunno… I'll just team up with you or Naruto…" Ruby said a little unsurely.

"Maybe, you should try being on someone else's team." Yang suggested as she began playing with her hair. "Besides, if that idiot was here he would suggest the same thing."

"My dear sister Yang…" Ruby began with an accusatory finger. "Are you implying you or even Naruto, does not wish to be on the same team as me?" She accused with a pout.

"What? No, of course we do…" Yang defended. "I just thought it would… I dunno… help you break out of your shell."

"What? I don't need to break out of my shell!" Ruby retorted. "That's absolutely-"

"-Ridiculous!" Jaune began as he walked by. "There's no way I put my gear in locker 636 yesterday… I would've remembered to count that high…"

Jaune continued to mumble about his misfortunes, passing by Weiss and a red-haired girl named Pyrrha Nikos. The two were discussing teams as well, with Weiss suggesting the two of them team up.

Pyrrha wore her long red hair in a waist-length ponytail. She had green eyes on her face below a golden circlet with small green emeralds hanging on the sides. She wore a two-layer, ornate piece of armor, the leathery top covering a low, gold v-neck, on her neck was a large gold necklace. She wore an elastic, dark-red skirt that reached to her mid-thigh held by a dark-brown belt with a small golden plate and a pouch, it also held some red drapery that reached just slightly above ground. She wore golden armor that reached all the way to her boots, which were brown in color to match her skirt and above-elbow high gloves. Her boots had a gold trim and a golden bracer on her left arm, reaching slightly below the bracelet on her bicep.

Pyrrha agreed that it would be fun if they could team up, and Weiss began fantasizing, how with the two of them together they would be unbeatable in all aspects of school work.

"You know what else is great? Me, Jaune Arc." Jaune smiled confidently as he stood between Weiss and Pyrrha. "Nice to meet you."

"You again?" Weiss questioned.

"Nice to meet you Jaune." Pyrrha greeted. But Jaune ignored her momentarily, in favor of hitting on Weiss.

"So, Weiss. Couldn't help but overhear your fondness for me the other day." He said as he flexed his arm in a cliché manner. Weiss just palmed her forehead in slight irritation.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

"Don't worry. No need to be embarrassed." Jaune reassured as Weiss was barely paying attention. "So, I've been hearing rumors about teams. I was thinking you and me would make a good one, what do you say?" Jaune asked suavely as Weiss just looked away and tried her best to ignore him.

"Actually, I think the teams are comprised of four students each. So…" Pyrrha explained as Jaune walked up to her.

"You don't say? Well hot stuff, play your cards right and maybe you could join up with the winning team." Jaune said confidently before a light bulb lit up his head. "I know! I can invite my friend Naruto to join…" He muttered.

"_Naruto?"_ Weiss thought. She shook her head as she stepped in between Jaune and Pyrrha. "Jaune, is it? Do you have any idea, who you are talking to?"

"Not in the slightest Snow Angel…" Jaune flirted. Weiss just ignored the comment and explained that Pyrrha was the top of her class when she graduated at Sanctum Academy and won the Mistral Regional tournament four years in a row. Jaune just continued to irritate Weiss with his lack of knowledge on the topic at hand.

"She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!" Weiss said as she waved her hands in anger. Jaune had a look of awe on his face at the now realized resemblance.

"That's you? They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!" Jaune said with stars in his eyes as Pyrrha looked a little sheepish.

"Yeah, it was pretty cool. Sadly the cereal isn't very good for you…."

"So, after hearing all this." Weiss began while looking a little smug. "Do you really think you're in a position, to ask her to be on your team?"

"I-I guess not… sorry." Jaune gave a dejected sigh. Pyrrha encouraged him that he has the capability of being a great leader. Weiss told her that she shouldn't encourage Jaune's behavior as the boy was now sporting his confident grin again. "Sounds like Pyrrha's on board for Team Jaune, spots are filling up quick. Now, I'm not supposed to do this, but maybe I could pull some strings, find a place for you… what do you say?" He said as he slowly invaded her personal space.

"Alright, that's a bit too close… Pyrrha, a little help please?" Weiss requested as she backed away. Jaune went sailing, as his hoodie was caught by Pyrrha's javelin and he was pinned to a nearby wall.

"I'm sorry!"

An announcement was made through the intercom, saying all first-year students are to head to Beacon cliff, for the initiation test. The message repeated as Weiss walked past Jaune with Pyrrha following close behind.

"It was nice meeting you!" Pyrrha said as she reclaimed her javelin and caught up with Weiss.

"Likewise…" jaune said as he slumped his shoulders.

"Having some trouble there, lady-killer?" Yang joked as she and Ruby walked up to Jaune. Their own argument being over a few minutes ago.

"I don't understand. My dad said, all women look for… is confidence." Jaune said as Ruby helped him up. "Where did I go wrong…"

"Snow Angel… probably wasn't the best start." Yang said as she headed for the cliff area. She was sure that Naruto would be there this time. Ruby helped a dejected Jaune follow along.

* * *

"Thanks for the food!"

Naruto walked out of the cafeteria, leaving behind a rocking tower of plates for the busboys to clean up. Unlike the others, he didn't participate in cleaning himself up. He knew he was gonna be working up a sweat at the initiation. Literally and figuratively.

"Ugh… I can't believe that guy! He was a little too close for comfort, doesn't he know not to invade a lady's personal space-oof!"

Naruto felt himself bump into someone, his eyes drifted down from the beautiful blue sky to two girls in front of him. The one standing was a red-head wearing armor, while the other was white-haired. "Oops, sorry about that."

He held his hand out, but the girl just batted it away. She stood up on her own and dusted herself. After doing so, she looked at the cause of her grief only for her eyes to widen. _"I-It's him…"_

"Weiss? What's wrong?" Pyrrha asked her current companion. Said girl snapped out of her thoughts when Pyrrha placed her hand on Weiss' shoulder.

"H-Hey, you're that hooded guy at the opening ceremony yesterday!" Weiss exclaimed, seeing the similar personal effects, barring the hood which was now down.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, I guess I am." Naruto said lazily. "Anyways, sorry for bumping into you. The clouds looked so lovely today, that I wasn't paying attention."

"W-Well, as long as you learned your lesson." Weiss said shakily. _"It's him… I thought the name sounded familiar… but how?" _She saw the green gem around his neck and could only come to the conclusion that this was not a dream.

Naruto nodded before continuing on his merry way. "Wait! Aren't we supposed to head to the cliff?" Pyrrha called out.

"You guys go on ahead. I just had a huge breakfast, so I'm gonna walk around for a bit." Naruto said without looking back and giving a small wave.

Pyrrha sweatdropped at the indifference. "But, we were already told to gather…" She muttered on deaf ears, seeing as Weiss was in her own little world and Naruto was long gone. She shook Weiss back to the real world, the girl seemed really out of it for some reason. They only knew each other for a day or so, so she did not bother inquiring why Weiss was spacing out.

* * *

"I can't believe he's not here either!" Yang exclaimed irritably. She was really getting annoyed at her friends' lack of presence. She wanted to just question him, on why he hasn't been showing his face for the past two years. But now she needed to get a punch in, preferably without having to resort to Ember Celica… yet.

"Calm down, Yang. You're not the only one who's disappointed." Ruby placated her sister. She wanted to see their blonde friend, after not having been in contact with him for so long. Also because she wanted to discuss the possibility of being teammates with him and Yang.

The two sisters weren't the only ones disappointed. After being informed by Pyrrha of the blonde's indifferent departure, Weiss gave a defeated sigh at the loss of a possible good teammate. Jaune was also looking for his friend, he found his fellow blonde to be someone he could possibly look up to and maybe help him grow stronger.

While not showing it on his face, Ozpin also had similar thoughts on the situation. Though more from an academic standpoint rather than on a personal level. He just hoped the boy wasn't and won't be actively looking for trouble on the campus. Ozpin mentally cleared his head as he began the test. "For years, you have trained to become warriors. Today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Glynda continued for Ozpin, as he sipped his coffee. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion." She said sternly. Many of the students gathered tensed up on how the teams will be formed. "Each of you will be given teammates… today."

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon." Ozpin continued. "So, it is in your best interest to be paired with someone whom you could work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

Ruby's eyes went completely white at the one-time deal. She really had to make sure she met either Yang or Naruto first. The other students had their own reaction, like Yang's indifference or Nora's victorious pat on Ren's shoulder.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way." Ozpin stated cryptically. He explained that their performance will be monitored, but the instructors will not intervene. The students needed to find an abandoned temple that contained relics, which a pair must choose one and return it to the top of the cliff.

He finished by asking if any of the students had any questions. He saw Jaune and another boy raised their hand. He motioned for the other boy to ask his question. "Sir, there is an odd number of students. Would that mean someone would be going solo?"

"No. The missing participant has some… things he needs to do, and will follow in after." Ozpin answered as he idly wondered where Naruto was. Ruby and Yang were unconvinced at the excuse, but didn't raise a fuss. "Rest assured, there will be a partner and a full team for all of you."

Seeing only Jaune having a question, he commenced the operation as one-by-one the students took on a ready position before they were launched by the starting pad they were on.

"So, this landing strategy… thing. Um, what is it? Are you like dropping us off or something?" Jaune decided to voice his question anyways as more and more students began to get launched.

"No. You will be falling." Ozpin stated simply.

"Oh, I see. Did you like… hand out parachutes for us?"

"No. You will be using your own landing strategy." He took another sip of his coffee. Yang put on some aviators, but not before giving Ruby a wink and getting launched. The red-clad girl following shortly after.

"Relax, Jaune." Naruto said as he arrived at the cliff. "You'll be fi-"

His words died in his mouth as Jaune was launched unceremoniously out with the rest. He shrugged before walking up to Ozpin and Glynda. "You're late, Namikaze."

"Tell me something I don't know…" He said as he lazily waved off the lady instructor.

"Let me give you the gist of what to do." Ozpin intervened before Glynda could go into her stern teacher mode. "The first person you make eye-contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years. You and your partner are to find a relic in a temple up north and bring it back here. Understood?" Ozpin finished with a sip of his cup.

"Yeah, sure." Naruto waved off.

"This is serious Namikaze. You will meet opposition here, you do know that, right?" Glynda reprimanded.

"I know. Let's just get this over with." He said as he stood on his pad nonchalantly. He got launched immediately, leaving the Headmaster and the Instructor to monitor the progress.

"Glynda, get me another screen. I want to have a constant watch on Namikaze."

* * *

"Birdie, no!" Ruby's yell echoed out.

Naruto found himself flying through the sky in a downward arc. He saw most of the other students were still in flight. Yang was having the time of her life, using her gauntlets' shots to propel her forward. He saw the white-haired girl from earlier, leaping off some symbols she created in the air. He caught a glimpse of Jaune being caught by the hoodie with a red-colored javelin.

He saw his own impact point slowly approaching and activated Anti-Gravity, landing normally back on the ground. He looked around to see where he was at, he checked where the sun was at, and finding it to his right meant he was facing north. He began walking northward at a casual pace.

(Meanwhile with Ruby)

Once the red-clad girl touched down, she made a mantra in her head to find Yang. Since to her knowledge, Naruto wasn't in the forest yet. _"Oh, this is bad. This is really bad. If I can't find her… what if someone finds her first?"_ She thought as she explored her other options. Jaune was nice and funny, but she felt he wasn't very good in a fight. She thought about the black-haired Blake Belladonna, mysterious, calm and likes books, but she thought that conversation between them would be too hard. _"Okay, who else do I know in this school? There's Naruto, but he's not here yet. Yang, Jaune, Blake and…"_

She snapped out of her thoughts as she tried to stop herself from bumping into the wandering Weiss. Her eyes slowly drifted upwards before meeting Weiss' own. The white-clad girl made an about face as she walked away from Ruby.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Ruby called before slumping her shoulders in defeat. "We're supposed to be teammates…"

"Ow." Weiss made her way through the bushes, pushing off dangling vines along the way. Her eyes looked up to see Jaune struggling to pull Pyrrha's javelin out of his hoodie. The blonde boy gave a nervous wave as Weiss went back to Ruby and tugged her by her hood. "By no means, does this makes us friends."

"You came back!" Ruby cheered as Weiss dragged her along.

"W-Wait! Come back!" Jaune pleaded. "Who's gonna get me down from here?"

"Jaune!?" The boy looked down to see Pyrrha looking up at him. "Do you have any spots left on your team?" Pyrrha teased.

"Very funny."

(With Ruby and Weiss)

"What's the hurry?" Ruby asked as she caught up with Weiss, who released her a little ways later.

"I will not let my mission be delayed because you're too slow." Weiss replied as she kept walking. "I swear if I get a bad grade because… what the?" She staggered back, due to Ruby appearing in front of her so suddenly.

"I'm not slow. See?" Ruby smiled at her claim. "You don't have to worry about me!"

"When did you…?" Weiss asked as she turned to where she thought Ruby was previously at. Ruby explained that despite her hard-time dealing with people, she has no problem when it comes to monsters.

"You're about to see a whole different side of me today, Weiss." Ruby said as she slung her arm across Weiss' shoulder. The white-clad girl just crossed her arms at the gesture. "And after it's all over, you're gonna be like, 'Wow, that Ruby girl is really, really cool. And I wanna be her friend'." She disappeared again in a cloud of rose petals.

Weiss batted away the petals, and looked around for Ruby. "You may be fast, but you still excel at wasting time! Ruby?" She heard some shuffling in the bushes and began searching for Ruby again, only to find herself surrounded by some werewolf-like Grimms, the Beowolf type.

"RUBY!"

(With Yang)

"Hello! Is anyone out there!?" Yang called out as she speed-walked through the forest. "Hello! I'm getting bored here!" She heard some rustling in the nearby bushes and turned to look.

"Someone there? Ruby, is that you... Nope." Yang leapt back as a bear-like Grimm, the Ursa, erupted from the bushes and attempted to claw at her. She activated Ember Celica as another Ursa appeared and charged her. Yang delivered a straight punch in its gut sending it back, she followed by giving the other Ursa an uppercut and kicking it away.

"You guys… wouldn't happen to have seen a girl in a red hood, would you?" She got a roar in response. "You could've just said 'No'." The Ursa charged her again, she simply dodged back effortlessly. "Ahaha. Jeez, you two couldn't hit the broadside of a,,," Yang's taunting stopped as she saw something that absolutely infuriated her.

It was a strand of her long blonde hair, falling in front of her face. But it was not attached to her own, it was cut by a claw. "You…" She muttered darkly, as the Ursa had a confused look on their masked faces.

"_I like your hair… it reminds me of the sun! But mine is kinda the same…"_ The words of a young blonde boy echoed in her head, her closed eyes were reminiscing about the three of them when they were younger. She only allowed a few people to touch her hair, and these bears weren't one of them.

"You monsters!" Yang shouted as she opened her now-red eyes and an aura of fire erupted around her.

She propelled forward by shooting the ground behind her. She delivered another straight and uppercut combo on the closest Ursa. Chasing after it as it sailed through the air, she delivered a devastating combo of punches that kept sending the unfortunate monster further away from its partner. She gave one last straight, sending the Ursa across several trees in a blazing trail.

"What!? You want some too!?" Yang angrily shouted as the second Ursa charged in and roared in defiance. Only for a small katana to impale it in the back, the owner called her weapon back using the long cord attached to its pommel.

The owner of said weapon, was one of Ruby's earlier choices for a partner, Blake Belladonna. She had long black hair with a black headband that had a bow at the top, making it look like cat ears. The imagery is enhanced further by her cat-like yellow eyes.

Blake wore a black buttoned vest with coat-tails and a sleeveless, white undershirt that exposed her midriff and white shorts that probably connected to her shirt, but is partly obscured by her vest. She had a black scarf-like collar around her neck and black stockings that slowly turned purple when it came closer to her black heeled boots. On the sides of her stockings was her flower-like symbol in white. Only her left arm had a detached sleeve with a silver armband, and black straps were wrapped on both of her wrists. Her small katana was strapped to her back in its sheathe with the long cord falling at the side.

Blake just looked at Yang plainly. "I could've taken him." Yang stated as she and Blake knew they were partners now.

(With Weiss)

Weiss blocked a claw swipe from a Beowolf, knocking her back in the center of the pack. She remembered her training and took a ready stance. She darted forward like an ice skater, with intent to impale the monster in front of her with her rapier, Myrtenaster.

She slowed down as she saw Ruby appear again and cutting the Beowolf with her scythe, she redirected her fire-cloaked attack to avoid accidentally killing Ruby. The fire causing a tree to burn due to the attack being made out of Dust-work, and causing a splash of fire that slowly set the forest ablaze.

The momentary lapse of surprise on Ruby's face cost her, as the Beowolf took that time to swipe at her. She barely blocked in time, but was still knocked back into Weiss. "Hey, watch it!" Ruby scolded.

"Excuse me!? You attacked out of turn!" Weiss countered seriously. "I could've killed you!"

"You'll have to try a lot harder than that…" Ruby muttered. The two prepared for any further attacks from the Beowolves. But the slowly growing forest fire caused Weiss to order a strategic retreat. The monsters howled in both anger at their home being destroyed and their lunch leaving.

"What was that!? That should've been easy!" Ruby complained angrily.

"Well perhaps, if you exercised even the slightest amount of caution with the placement of your strikes. I wouldn't have set the forest on fire!" Weiss countered, equally angry. The two continued bickering, before Weiss called Ruby the 'strongest child to sneak into Beacon'. She left a fuming Ruby, who cut down a tree with her scythe in frustration before following after Weiss.

* * *

"Our last… well second to last pair has been formed, sir." Glynda said as she walked up to Ozpin, who was watching from the top of the cliff. "Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. Poor boy, I can't possibly imagine those two getting along. Still, he's probably better off than Miss Nikos." She commented as she watched and showed the pair's forming through a small handheld screen. "I don't care what his transcripts say, that Jaune fellow is not ready for this level of combat." She turned off the screen and stepped back.

Ozpin ignored Glynda's tirade in favor of watching both Ruby Rose and Naruto Namikaze.

"If I may ask, sir. What is important about this boy, that you had him enlisted into Beacon when he never even continued attending Signal or any of the other prep schools?" Glynda asked seriously as she also watched the footage of Naruto, simply walking through the forest while humming a whimsical tune.

"A feeling, Glynda. That's all I can honestly say, without revealing too much." Ozpin answered. As his eyes shifted to both screens.

"Well, it should be obvious that the last person left would be his partner, correct?" Glynda began, putting away the Headmaster's secretiveness for later. "I guess we'll find out soon enough. At their current pace they should be arriving at the temple in just a few minutes." She turned and began walking away. "Speaking of which, what did you use as Relics this year? Professor Ozpin?"

Ozpin ignored the questions as he continued to watch the two screens.

* * *

Naruto was walking through the forest, whistling a tune he heard some time long ago. Earlier he encountered some Grimm, which he immediately dispatched with his blades. His casual stroll in the Emerald Forest, was beginning to bore him.

The only thing worth noting was the fact that he ended up by the mountainside and had to skirt it a little to find the temple. He had a guess that he was the only one who has not partnered up… not counting his only potential partner, of course.

"Well, lookie here." Naruto finished his whistling as he came upon a temple, or more specifically, what remains of it. He went around the wall and saw on pedestals, several chess pieces. "This must be the relics the old man was talking about."

He saw that there were twenty pedestals and there were some already taken. "Jeez, talk about a fancy chess set." He commented as he looked at the leftover pieces that looked like they were made out of gold. He took note of how there was at least two of everything and deduced that the pair with the same piece and possibly color would be on the same team.

"Well, the old man said I needed a partner before I take one, so I guess I'll camp around for now." He activated Anti-Gravity again and leapt to the top of one of the pillars, since it didn't look as flimsy as the mossy stone that was in-between pillars.

He began whistling the same tune as he waited for his only possible partner to show up. It was very unlikely that his supposed partner, would still be wandering the forest. He or she could have ran into other pairs already and would no doubt, try and camp the temple as well to meet his or her partner there.

"Well, well. I really didn't expect my partner to have the same idea as me." Naruto heard a voice call from below him. He stopped watching the clouds as he locked eyes with his partner. "Though, I guess this saves me the trouble of waiting around for him."

He had long red hair, mostly arranged to spike backwards. His eyes were a turquoise color, bordering on green. He wore a white baseball shirt with red sleeves that reached to slightly below his elbows. He wore two criss-crossing belts to hold up his light-tan cargo pants, which had red running shoes with black soles and laces. Over his shirt was an orange vest that reached all the way to his waist-line. For accessories, he had dark-brown finger-less gloves and a two-tone yellow, striped scarf that had some extra flowing behind his wrapped neck.

"Name's Lea. Got it memorized?" He introduced as he made a gesture with tapping his finger on his temple. "So does my, four-eyed partner have a name?"

Naruto leapt down from his sitting position, landing without a sound. He held out his hand as he introduced himself to the boy. "Naruto. You're obviously a year older, so what's the deal?"

Lea just gave a grin. "Aren't you in a hurry to know more on your partner?" He jokingly replied. "Got held back a year at the school I was at. So I'm a year older than the other freshmen, I have a friend here who's already a sophomore."

Naruto nodded at Lea's explanation. The red-haired boy asked why Naruto was here considering he was younger. Naruto told a half-truth, that Ozpin saw some of his skills and invited him to Beacon.

"All right then, let's fight!" Lea requested as he brought out two black, cross-shaped handles that began extending into two spiky silver chakrams with a red inside, his weapon, Eternal Flames.

"Fight? Why would I wanna do that? We're partners now aren't we?" Naruto questioned. But inwardly, he had a grin on his face. He felt this guy would end up being a really great friend.

"You scared of losing?" Lea taunted as he established some distance. "Come on! Show me what you got!"

(Play Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep – Eternal Moments)

Naruto just broke out a grin as he pulled his Twin Swords: Cyclone Moment, out from their holster on his back-waist. He connected them by the pommel again, forming his DualBlade. He held it by his side as he got ready. "You're gonna be sorry!"

The two grinned and locked eyes before charging in.

(A little later)

Weapons clashed between the two partners, as both fell back with smiles playing on their faces. "You had… enough? Because I'm willing to call it a draw if you are." Lea said as he panted in exhaustion. His partner doing the same as they put away their weapons.

"A draw…? Sounds kinda nice…" Naruto said as he couldn't help but smile at the good fight. "Sorry about making you wander the forest looking for me."

"Nah, its fine. I needed the exercise anyway." Lea waved off with a smile. "Besides we're friends now, so get it memorized."

"Yeah." Naruto agreed. "We should get our piece."

"So, any idea why the old man has chess pieces?" Lea inquired. Naruto explained his theory that it was possible that pairs who have the same piece are placed in the same team. "So, which one we picking?"

Naruto picked up the Black King piece and hid it in his pouch. He turned around and walked back to Lea. The two nodded at each other and made to move, only for a fist courtesy of one Yang Xiao Long to come flying at Naruto, who dodged only at the last minute.

"You've got some explaining to do, buster." Yang said menacingly as Blake walked up as well.

"So… it's Yang now?" Naruto questioned, dodging another punch from the blonde girl.

"Yup. And it will be the only name I answer to in public." Yang said as this time her gauntlets began to cover her arm. "Now, talk."

Lea whistled at the interactions between the two. "Well, buddy. It seems you and your girlfriend need to sort this out." Lea teased as he walked up to Blake, who was examining the relics. "Heya. Name's Lea, get it memorized."

"Blake." She replied before raising a finger. "Not interested."

"Ah, well. I tried." Lea said with a shrug, as the stoic girl shot down his advances before he could even begin. The two watched the interaction between Yang and Naruto, who was dodging his fellow blonde's attempts to smash his face in.

"Oi, would you calm down a little?" Naruto placated, dodging another punch from the irate girl. "I can't really explain myself if I have to keep dodging your fists."

"Nuh-uh, you deserve at least one punch!" Yang's remark made Naruto stop to take the hit. As he got knocked back by Yang's punch, he saw the girl sporting a triumphant grin. Walking over, he explained how he was invited to Beacon and hid his identity to surprise her. How he was surprised Ruby got moved forward and Jaune spoiling the surprise before he could get his moment.

"I know you want to know more, but this is not the place for it." Naruto finished as Lea finally walked back up to him. He motioned the chess pieces for the two girls. "Go on, pick your piece."

"What piece did you get?" Blake asked.

"It's unimportant." Naruto deflected. While he would love to spend some time with Yang, he felt it would be best if they were not on the same team.

"How about a cute, little pony?" Yang called as she took the White Knight piece. Blake gave an uncaring approval, since it didn't really matter to her either way. The four heard a very loud scream that seemed to echo in the forest.

"Some girl is in trouble!"

"I wouldn't say so… all the people I've met so far are fairly competent." Lea stated as they looked around. "Wait… do you hear that?" The group heard something calling out to them, turning their heads up, only to find a falling Ruby from the sky.

"Heads up!"

Her entry however was ruined by the colliding form of Jaune Arc, coming in from the side, knocking them both to a nearby tree.

"Except for that one…" Lea commented in reference to Jaune.

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake asked as she and Yang looked to where Ruby landed. They then saw an Ursa come busting in through the woods, only to fall down in a heap. The form of Nora Valkyrie on top of it and Lie Ren emerging from the bushes exhausted. Nora dashed to the temple and took a White Rook Piece, while doing a happy-dance.

"Nora!"

"Coming, Ren!" She saluted as she caught her piece about to fall from her head.

"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" Blake asked again as Nora skipped over to Ren. They saw Pyrrha being chased by a scorpion-looking Grimm called the Death Stalker. "Jaune!" Pyrrha called to her partner, who called back and got ditched by Ruby in the tree.

"Ruby?" Yang said as Ruby made her way to them.

"Yang!" Ruby said as her eyes drifted to a certain blonde male, not the one in the tree. "Naruto?" The boy gave a lazy wave while using his other hand to adjust his glasses by the side.

"Nora!" The cheerful girl piped in as she appeared between the three childhood friends.

"Did she run all the way here, with a Death Stalker on her tail?" Blake asked again as the situation continued to make even less sense.

"Is it me or are we kinda out of place here, right now?" Lea whispered to Naruto, who nodded as he felt sleepy.

Another large Grimm emerged from the forest on their left. It looked somewhat fox-like in appearance. What struck it as odd was the glowing blue cord that looked like it was made out of electricity wrapped around its mouth and neck.

"A pair is riding it… girls too, by the looks of it." Naruto said seeing the two figure riding it. Blake's mask started to crack at the continually growing, yet ridiculous situation they were in.

The first girl was holding the lightning cord. She had brown hair that reached to her shoulders and arranged pretty neatly. She had brown colored eyes, nearly the same color as her hair. She wore a fuzzy white hat on her head and a white scarf around her neck. She also had a dark violet jacket over what looked like a pink floral sweater. An orange-brown pleated skirt, chocolate brown stockings and caramel brown boots with laces. They could faintly see she had a small silver canister on her back-waist.

The second girl had long black hair that framed her face and was arranged in two long pigtails on the side of her head. She had violet-colored eyes and from what they can see, a childish pout as she talked with her partner. She had a pink and gold feathered hat that had dark pink ribbons on the side. She had a pink top with gold zippers, attached to a short white mantle with pink lining, through a frilly pink ribbon with a gold star in the middle. She wore long, black, detached sleeves that started all the way from above her elbows to her hands that had the fingers exposed, it had white cuffs at the arm and the wrists. She had on a pink skirt with a white cloth on the sides, with a similar design to her mantle. She had a black belt with gold lining to keep it in place. She wore striped black and pink stockings on her legs, and black boots with a white cuff at the top and a pink ribbon with a gold star on the top of her foot. She held some kind of pink staff that had black feathers and a gold star on its top inside a pink circle.

"A Vulpes. A good level of maturity and with two tails by the looks of it." Naruto assessed as he adjusted his glasses again. "Alright, we're not so out of place now."

Yang's eyes exploded into its red color as fire erupted from her growing ire. "I can't take it anymore! Can everyone just chill out for a few seconds before something crazy happens again!?"

"Um… Yang?" Ruby began as everyone on the ground looked up and saw Weiss about to fall off the large raven-like Grimm, the Nevermore's talon.

"Why did you leave me!?"

"I said jump." Ruby said. The others assessed the situation of Weiss' fall. While the two girls riding the Vulpes, had their pet walk them over.

"Sera, please get one of those pieces over there." The brunette requested to the Magical Girl cosplayer.

"Mou, you should call me by my Magical Girl name, Miko-tan!" Sera whined as she jumped off their ride. Sera looked at the pieces for a little while, she took the other Black King piece. Naruto and Lea were watching the whole procedure and gave each other a nod. "Item get!"

"So what is your Magical Girl name?" Naruto inquired. Sera had stars in her eyes as she began making her introduction.

"I'm glad you asked! I am the warrior blessed with power over all things Ice! The warrior of justice and love, Magical Girl Levia-tan!" She finished as she made the sideways V-sign by her left eye as stars erupted around her.

"And you?" Lea motioned for the other girl, holding the lightning cord.

"Mikoto. I'm not magical enough like Serafall." She answered as Sera began calling Mikoto a meanie for using her whole first name, while she just ignored the childish girl. Jaune finally untangled himself from the tree and made to catch Weiss, only to fall flat on his face with Weiss landing on top of him. Pyrrha was finally knocked away by the Death Stalker, landing in front of the gathered group.

"Great, the gang's all here, now we can die together!" Yang remarked sarcastically.

"Not if I can help it." Ruby dashed to the Death Stalker, who deflected her easy attack. She tried a little more before she retreated and began running back to the group. The Nevermore rained its large feathers, catching Ruby by the cloak and preventing her from escaping. The two sisters saw the Death Stalker about to stab Ruby with its stinger, but she braced for an impact that never came.

"You are so childish." Weiss began as Ruby looked at her in both surprise and gratitude. "And dimwitted, and hyperactive. Don't even get me started on your fighting style." She then started looking a little nervous. "And I suppose, I can be a bit… difficult, but if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together." Weiss leaned in a little closer. "So, if you quit trying to show-off. I'll be… nicer."

"I'm not trying to show off, I want you to know I can do this." Ruby said. Weiss reassured Ruby that she's fine. Yang ran up to Ruby, happy that her sister was alright. The two walked back up to the group.

"Um… guys, that thing is circling back." Jaune pointed to the raven about to fly back to them.

"We don't have to fight them." Mikoto called from atop her mount. "Grab your pieces and let's just go."

"She's right." Ruby said as the two sisters walked over. "Our objective is to get these and run back to the cliffs, there is no point in fighting these things."

"_Chances are… we will have to anyway…"_ Naruto thought. He saw the hungry look on the Vulpes and the Death Stalker, and they won't let their prey escape so easily. He could tell the Nevermore felt the same.

"Run and live. That is an idea I can get behind." Jaune said. He and Ruby grabbed the White Rook and Knight pieces respectively.

"It's time we left." Ren said as the group nodded.

"Come on, hitch a ride with her." Lea pitched in as they mounted the Vulpes and took off to the cliffs. The Death Stalker having freed its stinger from the icy prison Weiss created. Yang looked at Ruby's growing maturity, before setting her eyes on Naruto, who was having a contemplating look on his face.

The Nevermore intercepted them and waited for them by roosting on a pillar. The group dismounted and took cover. The Death Stalker caught up from behind them and a resounding howl echoed in the forest. However, it didn't come from any of the three Grimm present right now.

Naruto felt something as the howl echoed through. He clutched his head in pain as the howl continued to echo. The Vulpes began thrashing about, the lightning cord Mikoto left to tie its mouth shut, snapping as power surged through it. The group watched as a third black tail sprouted from the Vulpes, while Naruto continued to clutch his head at the pain.

"_Use it…"_

The howling stopped as Naruto finally calmed himself. Lea had a curious look on his face, while Yang and Ruby were looking worried. They never saw that happen before, and it looked really serious.

"I'm fine." Naruto began. But his voice was nearly as cold as ice. "The only way out of this place is killing these three." Naruto had the pairs with the same pieces team up and take one of the Grimm down. His team would be taking on the Vulpes, while Ruby and Yang's will take down the Nevermore and Jaune and Nora's will fight the Death Stalker.

(Play One OK Rock – No Scared)

"_Naruto… use it. Use my… no, our power… NARUTO!"_

"_Shut up…"_

"So we doing this, partner?" Lea asked as he had his weapons form. He began glowing a fiery red aura that shot out to the other three, and small traces landing on the other two teams. They felt a boost in strength as the aura surrounding them began to flicker like a flame.

"Of course."

"You got a plan in mind, Blondie?" Mikoto asked as she flipped a coin, while holding some more in her other hand.

"Hit it till it dies." Naruto said. "The tails of a Vulpes are said to be the most dangerous. Sera, if you can, freeze its tails."

"You got it, Naru-tan!"

The four stared down the Vulpes' own glowing eyes. Naruto finally unsheathed Cyclone Moment and formed it into his Dualblade. He felt the voice from earlier quiet down, yet he could feel it was still watching him.

The four charged the Vulpes, with Lea taking the side. He tossed his chakrams while setting them ablaze to increase their innate strength. His weapons returned in time to block a claw swipe. Using that opening Mikoto electrified her coin and shot it to the beast's face, nicking it with a burning scar running along its face.

Naruto imbued his weapon with the Wind Energy, increasing cutting power and reach. He activated Anti-Gravity as he ran along the creature's spine, giving it multiple slashes as he ran by. He saw Sera was successful in freezing the fox's tails and begun freezing its hind legs. The Vulpes roared in anger as it attempted to claw at Lea who was slowly burning away its torso. It gave a stronger roar with a pulsing wind force, shattering the ice binding its tails. The shockwave caused Mikoto to stagger and the beast capitalized on that, as it attempted to eat her.

The monster chomped down, only to find it only ate the dirt where Mikoto used to be. She reappeared on its side belly, with several lightning sparks surrounding her body. "Rail-Shotgun!" She electrified the coins in her other hand and shot out her attack, puncturing the Vulpes' torso. The monster made a spinning sweep with its tails, knocking Mikoto and the sneaking Lea away.

The fox charged after their rolling forms, but several purple bullets to the face drew it attention. Naruto continued to barrage the fox with a rain of bullets, until the two recovered. Sera appeared above its head as her staff was encased in a large hammer made out of ice. "Levia-tan's Ice Hammer Attack!" She exclaimed as she slammed her weapon on the fox's head, disorienting it.

The two others recovered in that time, Lea imbued the others again with his fire to increase their strength. Mikoto zipped up to the slowly weakening beast and blasted it with another Rail-Shotgun blast. Sera had multiple sharp icicles impale it from all sides and different angles. Lea encased his chakrams in fire as he threw them in a criss-crossing arc, leaving a trail of fire on the fox's body.

"Dance for me." Naruto said as he shot another maelstrom of bullets at the whimpering monster. The four teammates saw it fall down, and couldn't help but grin at the victory.

"We won!" Sera cheered as she got Mikoto, Lea and Naruto do a victory pose with her. She then hummed a tune that sounded oddly familiar to Lea and Naruto.

"_It's not over yet… Naruto."_

The voice's words struck Naruto as he turned around abruptly and saw the Vulpes starting to stand. He saw two of the fox's tails begin spinning like a rotor as it began to ascend to the sky. The fox batted them away with its third tail as it continued to ascend. It opened its mouth as dark energy began forming.

"_Naruto… that is an Oblivion Sphere."_ The voice said. Naruto wanted to shut it out, but if it was going to give him information, then he'll let him. _"Any Grimm that gains even the most miniscule amount of human-like intelligence can use that attack… and with its level of power from the power surge it received earlier, this forest will be wiped out soon…"_

Naruto assessed his situation, it was all up to them to stop this monster. Even with this kind of threat level, he doubts the Headmaster will intervene, they were still in the middle of a test. He spared a glance and saw Ruby behead the Nevermore and Jaune's team stab the Death Stalker and cause it to fall into a crevice.

"_Use our power… Naruto. It's the only way…"_

"You got any ideas, partner?" Lea asked seriously as the four watched the Vulpes continue to ascend.

"Only something crazy…"

"Then spill it, Blondie."

"Go for it, Naru-tan!"

"Just follow my lead." Naruto said as he turned his weapon into its Dualblade form. He made distance with the group by moving closer to where the Vulpes used to be, he begun spinning his Dualblade over his head. He activated Acceleration to speed up the momentum of his weapon, with the wind being sucked in, before throwing it to Mikoto.

The girl pulsed her aura and created a lightning tether and made it wrap around the hilt of the rapidly approaching weapon. She spun it around as it continued its own spinning, before tossing it to Naruto again, but this time at an angle that would make it ascend. Due to the lightning and Acceleration it was moving so fast, it was nothing more than a blur.

Naruto activated Acceleration again as he caught up to his weapon. With a leap, he mounted his weapon that slowly began to approach the Vulpes' face. Lea activated his aura again and threw his weapons, this time with him still attached. He used more fire to propel himself forward, catching up to Naruto and giving him a boost, by blasting fire under Naruto's weapon and passing as much power as he can to his partner.

Naruto saw the Vulpes' stagger for a few seconds, draining away some of the stored power from the Oblivion Sphere. Down at the ground, Serafall had a look of utter concentration as she continued to pulse her aura. Using some ice shards left on the beast's fur as a conductor. While the beast's attack is slowly draining, the power being fueled in is at too much of a rapid pace.

Naruto closed in as he saw the beast open its mouth and ate the sphere, and him along with it. Several seconds passed as the group down below and the other spectator's held their breath.

The Vulpes' body began rumbling, it convulsed and gagged as the sphere of destruction in its mouth seemed to disappear. Its body continued to rumble before exploding in a shower of ash. Its shadowy body parts falling from the sky. There was no blood however, only ash as wisps of blue and red energy began erupting from where its center was previously at.

Naruto felt his body go tired as he began falling from the sky. He tried to snap his fingers to activate Anti-Gravity, but found his consciousness slowly fading in exhaustion. His eyes slowly closed shut as he could no longer push off his exhaustion.

"_If you used our power, this wouldn't have to happen… now it's up to me to save your ass again."_

* * *

"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing and Sky Lark." Ozpin began as thunderous applause resounded in the Amphitheatre where teams were being formed. "The four of you retrieved the Black Bishop pieces. From this day forward, you four will work together as Team CRDL (Cardinal), led by Cardin Winchester." Ozpin finished as the four rather stiff-looking boys stepped off the stage.

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos and Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the White Rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR (Juniper)." Ozpin said with a pause. "Led by Jaune Arc. Congratulations, young man." The scraggly blonde looked honestly surprised at that and Pyrrha gave him a congratulatory punch to the arm, much to the audience's amusement. The four stepped off the stage as Ozpin began calling for the next team.

"Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the White Knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY (Ruby)." Ozpin seemed to give a pause for dramatic effect before announcing the leader. "Led by… Ruby Rose."

"I'm so proud of you!" Yang cheered as she hugged Ruby, who was just as shocked along with Weiss. The four stepped off the stage as the last team walked up. Well… three and one being slung across his partner's arm.

"And finally… Mikoto Misaka, Lea Laevateinn, Serafall Sitri and Naruto Namikaze. The four of you retrieved the Black King Pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team LMNS (Elements), led by Naruto Namikaze." The crowd cheered as Ozpin finished the team placements.

"You did it, Naruto." Mikoto gave his prone body a pat.

"Yay! Naru-tan's the boss!" Sera cheered happily.

"Way to go, partner." Lea just gave a small smirk to his unconscious friend.

"It looks like things are shaping up to be an interesting year." Ozpin commented. "Everyone please enjoy the banquet and the rest of the night. There will be no classes tomorrow, for we have to give our new students adequate rest. Classes will be resumed the following day." Ozpin finished as he turned off his lapel mic. "Mr. Laevateinn, if you would hand over Mr. Namikaze's body to the medics, please."

Lea did as he was told, he and his two teammates mingled with the crowd. He specifically looked for his sophomore friend. Sera and Mikoto were talking to a red-haired boy and a silver haired girl. As for the other teams, well they were going with the flow, enjoying the rest of the night. Amidst colleagues, potential classmates, future comrades and friends.

As for Naruto, well he would be waking up in one of the few places where he would least like to be.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Well, there you have it. The End of the Emerald Forest Arc. This fic without a doubt, contains the longest chapters I've ever written. But don't be expectant that future chapters of this will be just as long, or longer than this. At the very least I have a 3k+ words rule, so you can at least expect that.

I know I skipped the explanation of Auras, but this fic is not focused on Jaune, Ren and Pyrrha (yet). Team RWBY and Team JNPR's fight wth their Grimm is the same as canon. And also because of demand, Weiss will have some story with Naruto. Not exactly the same like with Ruby and Yang though.

Since Ep.9 is the official first day of classes, that will be in the next chapter (and maybe the day-off) before we start branching out to possible Naruto/Original Arcs, Character Episodes, etc. Because if I only follow RWBY canon, then this fic would be on hiatus until Season 2 comes out.

I've left several… References? Allusions? In the story which are in small ways related to his teammates' origin stories, can you find them all and sort which belongs to who? Hint: Naruto's are more related to his fighting style's origins.

All four of them used their Semblance in the fight with the Vulpes as well. I read that the Semblance is supposed to reflect a part of that person's personality. So go try and guess which ones they are.

The team has an Elemental theme and an Alliterative name theme. I gave Lea the surname Laevateinn, which is a Fire-element sword in most games and made Serafall keep the surname Sitri, since there are no devils in this realm (yet).

For outfit references, Lea's is a slightly modified form of his appearance in Birth by Sleep, with Axel/DDD Lea's hair. Mikoto's is based on some concept artwork you can find in the To Aru Majutsu no Index wiki, its titled Volume 20 or something. Serafall's is her default Magical Girl outfit in the anime of Highschool DxD.

Do you like/hate the team I had help coming up with? Did I keep them at least somewhat in-character? Did I do well in the fight with the Vulpes (Latin: fox)? Was the musical cue appropriate? Was it just as over-the-top as the reverse beheading or more/less? Tell me in a Review or PM. I know I can't please everyone… so feel free to speak your mind.


	3. Breathe Easy

**Breathe Easy**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

* * *

Cerulean blue eyes fluttered open, not to the sight of blue skies, but a white roof and matching walls. The obvious hint was the smell, meaning that one Naruto Namikaze woke up in one of the last places he wanted to be.

A Medical Ward.

He sat up, rubbing the sleep off his eyes. He remembered the fight with the Three-Tailed Vulpes and falling out the sky while unconscious. He looked from left to right and saw no one there, other than some flowers and a note by his bedside. He spared a glance at the clock which read 9:00 AM, he picked up the note and unfolded it, he read that it was from Headmaster Ozpin.

_Mr. Namikaze,_

_On behalf of Beacon Academy and the Emerald Forest Nature Preserve, I wish to give you my utmost gratitude. For stopping a powerful Oblivion Sphere and saving the forest and the lives of your fellow comrades. Today is a day-off, feel free to do as you please. Below is a list of your Teammates and directions to your shared dorm room. I hope it is to your liking. _

_Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy._

Naruto read the names and smirked at his little victory. He was teammates with the same pair that took the Black King piece. He read the directions to his dorm room and stood up to change his clothes from the medical gown into his usual blue outfit. He saw that his own equipment was still with him and holstered his weapons.

Once he was finished he opened the window, breathing in the crisp morning air. The soft breeze blew through the opening, making the curtains billow at the intrusion. He climbed the opening and leaped out the window, missing the door slowly opening behind him.

"Ever the enigma you are, Mr. Namikaze."

* * *

(Play Final Fantasy Type-0 – Impure Eyes)

Naruto walked casually across the courtyards of Beacon Academy, going to wherever his feet take him. Taking in the sights in more detail compared to the first day. He saw students talking among themselves, most of their conversations were about homework, the day-off, or worse... about him.

It was no surprise people would notice him, having been unconscious as his teammates were announced. A guy like that was subject to schoolyard gossip. Thankfully, it was mostly out of curiosity or in some females case, if he was single. Inwardly sighing, he hastened his pace slightly to make sure he does not get jumped by someone who gets frisky. So caught up was he in his rush, that he did not realize that he would accidentally collide with someone... again.

"Owie!"

Naruto averted his gaze that darted across his surroundings, moving them towards the person he crashed into. He only knew one person with that kind of hair colour. "Ruby?"

The red-clad girl picked herself up off the floor, finally locking eyes with the person she'd been dying to talk to again for nearly two years. The girl looked conflicted on what to do, she was pretty miffed that he did not bother calling or writing a letter. But she was also glad that she was able to talk to him again at last. So, on impulse she simply gave him a friendly hug, relishing in the moment when he reciprocated it, even if it was shaky.

Letting go after some far-off bystanders started making cat-calls, Ruby had a blush as she tried to avoid his gaze. She was quite embarrassed at her bold move, but tried regaining some composure. "Good to finally see and talk to you again, Ruby."

"Y-Yeah, s-same here." Ruby stammered. Naruto led her to a bench where they can sit down so they can catch up properly. Naruto took off his holsters since it would get in the way of him sitting. Naruto was about to begin, but he saw Ruby was staring at his sheathed weapons with a glint in her eye that made it obvious she was in her 'weapon-nerd' mode.

"Here." Naruto handed his weapons to Ruby. The girl took them, stood up and unsheathed them. Making a few weak practice swings, she gazed at the blade with a critical eye taking in the design, the materials used, and its weight as well.

"What's its name?"

"Cyclone Moment. I have an innate affinity towards Wind-element Dust magic. Moment comes from the split-second light refracts from the polished blade before it cuts the enemy." Naruto stated proudly. Adding in an explanation for another extra feature. "It can also combine together at the pommel to form a Dualblade, or a rifle in Twin Pistol mode."

"So cool! Wanna trade?"

Naruto sweatdropped before he declined his friend's offer. She looked downcast for a split second before she formed the Dualblade mode. "Wait. You never continued your studies at Signal, and the course for crafting your own weapon was after you dropped out."

"Look under the guard."

Ruby did as requested, her eyes widening when she saw a crest. It was a small star that was surrounded by a gear-like design and a small flower in the middle pentagon. "T-This was crafted by... three of the Five Blacksmith Kings..."

"Well... King actually only applies to Luke, since Cattleya and Lizbeth are women." Naruto muttered, yet Ruby's love of weapons allowed her to hear about anything weapon-related.

"You met them?"

"All five actually, but only those three made the weapon itself. The other two did the designs... uh, Ruby? Are you okay?" Naruto asked the girl who looked like she was about to froth at the mouth or vomit a rainbow.

"Oh. Em. Gee! Did you get their autograph? I'll buy it from you, what do you say? Please, please, please!" Ruby pleaded, giving him the look that rendered nearly all men defenceless and unable to say no to a girl's face, the infamous puppy dog look. Naruto's sweatdrop grew larger, he would have spoke up, had Ruby not interrupted him. "Oh, I see. Then I'll fight you for it!"

"No need for that. I actually did get one signed to you and planned on giving it to you." Naruto placated, seeing as he was unarmed and Ruby looked like she would be desperate enough to use his own weapon against him. "I'm going home today to pick it up, spend some time at Vale before tomorrow arrives. So just put my swords down and wait for me to give it to you, okay?"

Ruby calmed down and beamed a cute smile, she would have enveloped him in a bone-crushing hug had she not held two very sharp blades in her hands. She sheathed the swords after giving it another look before returning it to her blonde crush, she sat down next to him again and started their catch-up after two years of no contact with each other. "So what have you been doing this whole time?"

Naruto was about to answer, but a new voice pipes in and interrupts them. "Aww, you two look so cute together!" They turned to the source and saw that it came from Yang. The beautiful blonde girl sat down next to Naruto and slung her arm across his back. "So, my sweet little fox. How about you start with an unabridged version of your story, eh?"

"Yang! You're embarrassing us..." Ruby began with a shout that turned into a whisper when several bystanders turned their attention on them.

"Nah, it's fine. Right, foxy?" Yang waved off casually. Naruto gulped and nodded, he would have started had another weight not applied itself to their bench. He looked across Yang and saw Blake sitting next to them, yet still immersed in her book.

"Don't mind me. I just have nothing better to do, so I figure I'd hang around my partner." Blake reasoned, not taking her eyes off the book she was reading.

"Okay... um, let's see. I mostly helped Dad out with his Dust research, got some part-time work... a lot." Naruto began, whispering the last part more to himself, only Yang and Blake hearing it due to the close proximity to the former, and sharpened senses for the latter. "Trained with Mom in using a one-handed sword... what else..." Naruto continued his story to the sisters, sharing his usual pranking sprees and training regimes and inhaling Ramen by the bucketload.

To the two sisters, they were happy that there was very little changes to their blonde friend. Yang noted that he still seemed to be leaving some things out, but did not press him for it. He'll tell her when he's ready. To Blake, he was quite the weird person, but the more he talked the more she learned that he was a very kindhearted person. It made her oddly curious to know more, discreetly of course.

"So, what are you reading?" Naruto asked Blake before the girls can tell their story to him.

"A book."

"I know that, but what's it about?" Naruto groaned, he could practically feel Blake's smirk when she heard him groan at the given answer.

"It's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body."

"Oh... I see..." Naruto said in understanding, missing the fact that he had a faraway look on his face in front of his childhood friends. Blake peered over her book, raising a curious eyebrow at the sudden silence.

"Hello? Remnant to Naruto? Are you in there?" Yang asked, waving her hand in front of the spaced-out Naruto's face. The boy snapped back to reality and looked at the time.

"Huh, it's already around lunch time, so wanna come with? You can tell me your side as we go along."

"Ooh. You have a place in mind? The cafeteria's closed today, so we have to go to Vale for lunch." Yang reminded. Naruto shrugged, he was planning to eat at home, but if they wanted to eat out, he'd be perfectly fine with it.

"Oh, yeah! Um... Blake wanna join us? Naruto might be paying." Ruby invited, much to the blonde boy's shock. More so when Blake accepted the offer, with the four of them now walking out of Beacon and onto an Airship to take them to Vale. Naruto stored his weapons in his locker first before departure.

* * *

(Play Naruto – Daylight)

After the Airship touched down, the current group sat down at a bistro at the harbour side, overlooking the ocean with Patch Island in view. The two girls recounted their small adventures to Naruto as they ate their lunch. Blake staying quiet and simply listening in.

Ruby told him the story of how she fought several Beowolf Grimms when her Uncle Qrow first gave her Crescent Rose. He was quite protective of Ruby, so he fussed about her and muttered something about beating up a certain, in his own words, crazy uncle.

When her turn came around, Yang shared the story of her getting into a fight with Junior and his thugs at a club. Naruto had to stifle his laughter when Yang told him she nearly crushed Junior's balls. Of course, he had the usual protective reaction for his own family jewels. He also got a little angry about it, combined with the fact that they almost kissed. Naruto was quite possessive of Yang, having had a known crush on her for as far back as he could remember, so his reaction was not completely unexpected.

"I'm gonna beat his ass when I see him! He'll have a good taste of Savior..." Naruto said with a dark aura, simultaneously rolling up his left sleeve. "And Justice." He rolled his right sleeve and cracked his knuckles, cackling madly as he yelled out his rage. "You hear me Junior! I'm coming for you! Nothing will protect you from me! Not Men! Not Weapons! Not Armor!"

Of course that was an exaggerated version, but you get the idea.

Yang placated her fellow blonde, knowing that she had that kind of effect on him. She wasn't stringing him along, but she knew of her sister's secret crush on him as well, and did not want to ruin her chances completely. Naruto calmed down considerably, putting on his usual carefree grin again. Yang finished her story when she reunited with Ruby at the end.

After lunch with Naruto paying, the foursome exited the bistro and made their way towards one of Vale's parks. They wandered around the city first, entering a bookstore when Blake wanted to check out if there was anything new, a music store for Yang and a weapon store for Ruby. They didn't spend too long a time browsing, they only had half a day left to spend freely, after that they will have to manage their time properly.

Arriving at the park, just in time to see Mikoto kicking a vending machine and sending an electric pulse through it. They saw that she was with Serafall as well as two others, probably seniors or fellow freshmen.

"Miko-tan~, you didn't have to be so mean to it." Sera remarked, opening her can after Mikoto tossed it to her.

"Let me tell you why that's bullshit..." Mikoto began, slouching on the other bench since they seemed to only hold three people each. "Vale is supposed to be-"

"Jeez, Bug Zapper. You really did a number on... Vending Machine 7116" Naruto piped in, reading the machine's serial number on the side.

"You say something whiskers?" Mikoto turned to him, standing up as she did so. Electricity sparked around her as she tried to intimidate the blonde. "Because I'm sure I just heard someone ask for an ass-kicking..."

"Maybe later... Teammates will eventually train and spar with each other, so you'll still have your chance." Naruto waved off as he bought some drinks for his group, surprising Mikoto when the machine just took the money and gave the drinks requested. They sat down nearby so they can talk.

"Naru-tan! Come here, I want you to meet someone!" Sera motioned, Naruto looked curious as he walked up to her group. "Naru-tan, I want you to meet my friends Sirzechs-tan and Grayfia-tan!"

"Yo." Naruto lazily gave a two-fingered salute, causing Sirzechs to chuckle and Grayfia to shake her head in exasperation. "Name's Naruto, and don't you forget it."

"He's certainly leader material..." Grayfia deadpanned.

"That's mean, Grayfia-tan! Naru-tan is a good leader!" Sera defended with her childish pout. Grayfia raised her arms in surrender, knowing full well that Serafall was the better of the two in Ice-element Dust magic.

"So, the mysterious Naruto Namikaze, the sleeping leader."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that, silently asking for an explanation on the weird title. "You're quite infamous for being the only Team Leader to sleep through your team's creation." Sirzechs supplied the answer. "It's all the gossip in Beacon right now."

Nodding his head at the answer, he went about getting to know his new teammate and her friends. Serafall and Sirzechs were the current heirs to a family that held a lot of power in Vytal's government while Grayfia was Sirzechs' fiancee.

"Wait, if you two are heirs to a powerful family, why are you here learning to be Hunters?"

"So, I can protect my So-tan!" Sera said with fiery determination that contradicted her natural affinity. She was determined to protect her dear little sister from all harm.

"I feel the same. My Rias-tan is so precious, I can't stand for the Grimm to even dare lay a hand on her!" Sirzechs said, though his tone sounded more comical than Serafall's.

"Forgive them, sometimes their Sister-Complex is too much to keep bottled up." Grayfia mock whispered to Naruto, much to the two heirs' embarrassment. Naruto crept away slowly from them when they started a contest on who is the better sibling to their sister.

"Finally done getting to know your teammate, whiskers?" Mikoto asked casually, having spent that time talking to Ruby, who immediately went into interrogation mode when she wanted to know what weapon a Hunter was wielding.

"Yeah, but I know there will be plenty of time to get to know you all. We got Four Years here, after all."

"What are you all doing here?"

The groups turned and saw Weiss walking to them through the park. Like Orientation Day, she had some shopping bags and a few suitcases with her in a cart being pushed by two guys in suits. The white-clad girl especially had her eyes on Naruto, who simply looked confused.

"Weiss! I didn't know you'd be here!" Ruby exclaimed in surprise.

"_Weiss...?"_ Naruto thought. The name sounded familiar but he couldn't remember from when.

"Well, of course. A free day like this is a good time to get all the necessities. Yesterday's battles took a toll on my Dust supplies, y'know?" Weiss said, a little bit of haughtiness lacing her tone. Her eyes never leaving Naruto's confused ones, a small blush making its way to her face.

Yang took note of the look Weiss had, rolling her eyes amusedly. _"Looks like you got some competition, little sister. And in more ways than one it seems."_

"Anyways, what are you guys doing here?" Weiss asked, finally looking at Ruby instead of Naruto. "Hopefully, you aren't simply slacking off."

"Ehehe... well when you put it like that..." Ruby looked sheepish at Weiss' piercing gaze. The Schnee heiress scoffed before walking up to Naruto and outstretching her hand.

"Congratulations and Thanks. For being a leader and defeating that monster." Weiss answered his questioning look. Naruto nodded, putting on a mischievous grin as he took the girl's hand.

"I humbly accept your gratitude." He said kissing the top of her hand, smirking when the girl quickly pulled back and started to try hiding her embarrassment. Unbeknownst to them, Ruby looked at the interaction with some hidden jealousy, one which Yang simply shook her head at. She knew Naruto did it just to mess with Weiss, she just hoped that Ruby doesn't take it too far.

"Quite the charmer, isn't he?" Sirzechs commented, watching the interactions and noting the looks on each of Team RWBY's face. Grayfia nodded her assent as Serafall ran up to Naruto and Team RWBY.

"This is what Levia-tan fights for! The sacred protection of Justice and Love!" She exclaimed in a cheerful voice, completely misunderstanding the situation. Weiss ran off quickly as her blush continued to worsen at constantly being embarrassed in front of so many people.

"You really got to her..." Blake commented, neutral look still in place.

"It's nothing... just some light teasing." Naruto waved off, Blake shrugging in response. He looked at the time, seeing that the afternoon was slowly drawing to a close. "Listen, I have to get some stuff at my parents' place, so I gotta go. See you guys tomorrow."

Naruto ran off, leaving the rest of the group to break off on their own. Yang and Ruby leaving together, with Blake already long gone when Naruto left. Sirzechs and Grayfia said farewell to Serafall and Mikoto, the last two deciding to head to their dorm room together.

"Idiot. We'll see him later at the dorm room anyway."

"Miko-tan! Come on, let's get going!"

"Just you wait, whiskers. I'll show you who's a Bug Zapper." Mikoto plotted evilly, yet comically like a cliche villain. She chased after Serafall who bounced on her heels as she headed to the port.

* * *

Naruto stepped off the Airship as it landed back at Beacon Academy. It was almost sunset, his time with his parents taking longer than he expected. His Father gave him a new prototype Dust crystal to test out, while his Mother kept pestering him on how his reunion with Yang went. Surprising her when he told her that Ruby was also attending their year.

Walking through the courtyard at a sedate pace, Naruto heard a voice call out to him. Turning to see that it was none other than his partner, Lea. "There you are!"

"Something wrong, partner?"

"Yeah, there is something wrong. I've been looking everywhere for you, where have you been anyway?" Lea questioned.

Naruto tilted his head curiously, wondering what Lea was up to. "I did some catching up with some friends, spent the afternoon in Vale and went back to my parents' place. Why?"

"Dude, we almost missed it! C'mon, I'll show you!" Lea said, grabbing him by the arm and tugging him along.

(Play Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days – At Dusk, I will think of you)

They climbed several flights of stairs, opening a door at the end and stepping out to see their intended destination.

"What's all this?" Naruto asked, seeing that they were near the top of Beacon Academy's clock-tower. It had a very good view of Vale, even better than the tree Naruto slept at. Lea sat on the edge, his legs dangling off it. The fiery redhead patted the spot next to him, motioning for Nauto to sit down. Naruto did as requested, Lea handing him a sky-blue coloured popsicle.

"The Icing on the Cake."

Naruto took a bite at the Ice Cream, gaining a weird face as he had the treat dance in his mouth. "Salty... and sweet... kinda weird." Taking in more bites as they spoke to each other.

"Guess it's more an acquired taste. Trust me, you'll get used to it." Lea reassured.

"What is all this for?" Naruto questioned.

"To celebrate, of course. Flashy victory, successful mission, all that jazz." Lea said with a smile. "Should have been yesterday, but you were kinda like a bag of luggage yesterday."

"What do you mean luggage!?" Naruto yelled indignantly.

Lea did not bother hiding his successful smirk. "That's more like it! You acted like such a stiff at the battle yesterday, I thought you were replaced by some kind of alien."

"Hey, I resent that!"

Lea simply laughed him off, Naruto following suit later. The two calmed down after a few minutes, simply relishing in the growing evening breeze and watching the sun slowly disappear on the horizon. They watched Beacon preemptively turn on the lights in the courtyards.

"5...4...3...2...1..." The two boys counted down as they saw the sun finally disappear. Their was still some natural light left, so the two boys simply stayed there for a few minutes.

"Hey, Lea."

"Hmm?"

"Thanks for this. It feels... nice." Naruto smiled gratefully to his partner. Returning the gesture before standing up, Lea dusted himself off and the two made their way back.

"Heh. Don't mention it, what are friends for?"

"Let's do this again. I mean not all the time... Too much Ice Cream is bad for you, y'know?"

"Haha, sure thing. Now come on, we have a dorm room to crash in."

Naruto nodded, following his partner back down the stairs, sparing one last glance to the starry night sky and the shattered moon. He may have said he hated going to school, but on the inside he mused that it was not all bad. He met back up with his old friends, and he made some new ones as well.

"_Maybe attending Beacon wasn't such a bad idea as I thought..."_

* * *

**Author's Notes**

FINALLY UPDATED!

Is probably what you thought when you saw your alert popped in, right? I know, you can go vomit rainbows now.

I know that I kinda slacked off on working on this, but when a shit-ton of ideas pop in my head, I just can't help but try and write it out (or play the scenarios in my head). Initially, I planned on having this cover Ep. 9-10 but I felt that would just create the expectation that all chapters will be long (I'm paranoid like that).

This chapter is shorter, but showed most of the main cast interacting with Naruto. Each one of his teammates and planned love interests had their moment with him. Mostly simple talking and the like.

Next chapter will be Ep.9-10 of RWBY and the start of me making some original content (not characters, but story arcs, character-centric episodes, etc.) I'll be focusing on writing that next, so worry not for another bi-weekly-long update, I'll try and cycle my updates as best as I can.

Ch2 Discussion time:

Semblances.

- Lea's is his passable Fire Aura, representing his strong loyalty to his friends. This lets him imbue his teammates with a boost in overall attack strength, it only increases strength because Fire is a force of destruction first and foremost.  
- Mikoto's is letting Lightning/Electricty course through her nerves, increasing her reaction time, brain power, speed and reflexes. This represents her short temper and her decisiveness.  
- Serafall's is letting her damage remotely with leftover shards of Ice. Even playing as a Magical Girl, Serafall is still human (in this fic anyways), she has her own dark side (her origin as a Devil) that knows how to play dirty when necessary.  
- Ever wonder why I never had the conversation with Blake in RWBY Ep.3's last scene written in? (not because I didn't want to describe their PJs). The answer to that is the book she reads (no, not Ninjas of Love). The two aura colours when the Vulpes exploded, that's Naruto's Semblance, or at least the aftermath of it. What it actually does will show up later, when push comes to shove.

Allusions:

- The fight with Lea is supposed to mirror his fight in BbS with Ventus. If it wasn't obvious by now with the ice cream scene, I'm aiming to recreate the friendship between Roxas/Axel into Naruto/Lea.  
- The Black King piece represents the Peerage system. Sera picking the Black King, which represents her own piece in her OS(Origin Story), Black is the colour of a Devil's wings. Levia-tan is her name in her in-series show.  
- The Lightning cord. Mikoto is very creative and intelligent, in her OS she can make a sword out of Iron Sand and make it work like a chainsaw and a whip at the same time using her electric powers. Her lightning can do nearly anything.  
- Riding the spinning Dualblade mirrors Sonic Mount, Malik Caesar's Arte in Graces. The purple bullets were Covering Fire and when Naruto said "Dance for me." He used Broadside Waltz. (what did you really think I'll make him say "Instant Balls!"?) all of which was part of Hubert's arsenal of Artes.  
- Item get! and FF's Victory Fanfare  
- Naruto being swallowed by some giant animal.  
- Lea's sophomore friend is Isa. Mirroring how Saix is No.7, while Axel was No.8. Sirzechs and Grayfia, Serafall's friends who made their cameo this chapter.


	4. The First Day

**The First Day**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

* * *

Sunlight crept over the horizon as a new day began for the city of Vale. All manner of creatures that slept through the night began waking, eager to start another day and earn their keep. People began filing out of their homes, heading to their workplaces to start the day. To many of the populace, it was a normal day. But for one person, she would say that this was the best day of her life.

It was finally here, the day she had been waiting for. The day where another of her dreams would finally come true. It was her wedding day, one she had been looking forward to ever since she finally reunited with him. She stood behind the usual crowd of people who would do all the necessary things when the wedding begins. Her reformed father was by her side, mentally preparing to finally give his daughter away to her beloved.

Having all her nervousness washed away by her friends' support, Weiss Schnee confidently and happily entered the hall once the doors swung open. Walking down the aisle sporting a small smile, she looked to her friends, teammates, colleagues and family members amongst the gathered crowd.

Ruby and Yang were oddly supportive of the two of them. Having known that both, along with Blake, held feelings for the handsome whiskered-blonde that she was about to marry. It took a long time, but they eventually gave their blessing, supporting her and him throughout any and all troubles the two of them had.

She reached the end of the aisle, her father handing her over to the man of her dreams with a 'Take care of her or else...' threat. Her beloved smiled and promised that he would, one of the many things she loved about him. The two lovebirds stared at each other for a while, only breaking their gaze when the person who would bind them eternally to each other coughed in his hand.

Professor Ozpin had grown old rather well. Though not much changed in his personality throughout the years. Still, the two of them owed a lot to the Professor. Had he not invited him to Beacon, who knows how long it would have been for the two of them to reunite.

The two followed the necessary procedures, just like the way they rehearsed. She knew he wasn't much for following the rules or sticking to scripts, but he knew she wanted their marriage to also be done this way. She reasoned to him that it was something about a little girl's fantasy. Ozpin then gave them the stage, exchanging their vows, rings and lighting the candle.

Then it came, the moment she had been waiting for. They have kissed many times, yet her inner little girl would always treasure this moment. Ozpin gave him the go-ahead, making him turn to her. He lifted the veil, finally gazing at each other once again unobstructed. The two were lost in each others eyes as they closed the small distance between them. He wrapped his arms around her waist while she wrapped hers around his neck. Their faces were practically touching, they could feel each others breath as their lips were about to connect-

_Prrrrrrrrrrtttttttttt!_

(Dream Sequence End)

Weiss jolted awake and fell off her bed, breaking her away from the land of dreams. "Good Morning, Team RWBY!" Ruby Rose, now dressed in the Beacon Academy Girl's Uniform, greeted cheerfully as she jumped off Weiss' bed. Even with her uniform, Ruby still wore her precious hooded, red cloak.

"What in the world is wrong with you?" Weiss questioned seeing Ruby holding the whistle that ended her dream, just when it was about to get to the part she awaited the most.

"Now that you're awake we can officially begin our first order of business." Ruby explained. Missing the fact she just woke someone up rather rudely. Weiss questioned what Ruby meant while dusting herself off after standing up.

"Decorating!" Yang said excitedly.

"What?"

"We still have to unpack..." Blake held up a suitcase, which opened at that moment and dropped the things inside it on the floor. "...and clean." Weiss simply stood there with narrowed eyes and slight irritation.

_Prrrrrrrrrrtttttttttt!_

Ruby whistled at Weiss again, making the Schnee heiress fall on the floor one more time. "All right! Weiss, Blake, Yang and their fearless leader Ruby have begun their first mission. Banzai!" She finished, raising her arm.

"Banzai!" Yang, and oddly enough Blake as well, did the same. The group tilted to the side comically, with Weiss sighing as she laid down on the floor.

"_What did I do to get such weird teammates..."_

(A little later)

After Weiss got in her uniform, she and the girls began decorating their room. Yang stuck a poster of the current boy band she was listening to. Weiss hung up a painting of the Forever Fall forest. Blake was stacking her books on the shelves, looking around as she hid a book titled 'Ninjas of Love'. Ruby was busy hanging up a curtain for their window... using her scythe. Sure enough, she accidentally cut the cloth cleanly when she turned around.

The girls gathered by the door to look at their masterpiece, only to find that the beds were in a jumbled mess in the middle of the room. "This isn't going to work."

"It is a bit cramped."

"Maybe we should ditch some of our stuff."

"Or we could ditch the beds..." Ruby thought out loud, gaining an idea as she did so. "And replace them with bunk beds!" She finished, throwing her arms up in the air at her brilliant idea. Weiss pointed out that that could be dangerous, but Yang and Blake helped outvote her when they said it was awesome and efficient respectively. Team RWBY got to work and after a few minutes, they returned to the door. "Objective complete."

Ruby's bed was suspended in the air by several ropes tied to the posts, she also had a white sheet all over it that was suspended similarly. Weiss' bed was directly under Ruby's, her suitcases filled with Dust crystals were hugging the wall on the side. Yang's and Blake's were more simple, but was dangerously stacked through the use of extra books.

"Looks unsafe."

The girls jumped in surprise when Naruto's voice came in behind them. His Beacon Academy Boy's Uniform was dishevelled. His shirt was untucked and showed his neckline, his tie was loose and his blazer was unbuttoned. To top it all off, it was way too wrinkly.

"What happened to you?" Yang asked.

"Teammates kept trying to make me wear the damn thing." Naruto said casually, waving off their minor concern. He diverted his attention to the slightly shaking bunk bed of Blake and Yang's, and the oddly teetering form of Ruby's bed above Weiss'. "How about me and Lea help you out with this later? We already made our... 'decorations'... last night." Naruto said ambiguously.

"You got good with tools?" Yang asked knowingly, smirking when Naruto grimaced at the hidden jab.

"Yeah. And about time, too. A man should know how to use tools." Naruto said, puffing his chest out in pride. He then got a look of realization and took out a timetable and looked at his watch afterwards. "Well what do you know? We're gonna be late..."

"What!" Weiss exclaimed in shock.

"We have a few classes together today, at 9 we have-" Ruby began as she read her timetable, excited that all five of them have several classes together.

"Did you say 9 o'clock?"

"Uh..."

"It's 8:57, you dunce!" Weiss spun on her heel and rushed out of the room, her teammates following after her. Team JNPR poked their heads out from their room, curious at what the fuss was about. They were just in time to see Team RWBY run at godspeed towards their first class.

"Class starts at 9, we're gonna be late." Naruto said to Team JNPR, though he didn't seem like he was in any particular hurry. He had his hands in his pockets as he strolled out Team RWBY's room at a more casual pace.

"Class?" Jaune began, before the team stumbled when they realized they were in the same year. "We're gonna be late!" He said as he rushed to catch up with Team RWBY. Naruto shook his head and followed along. He wasn't too keen on going to classes again anyway.

Out at the courtyard, he saw the two teams in the distance pass by Ozpin, who took a sip of his coffee and Glynda, who checked the time on her watch. Their eyes landing on him as he passed them by, a minute or so later. "Namikaze, hurry to class."

"It's fine. It's just the first day, I'm sure... Professor Port is the type to be lenient about attendance on the first day, right?" Naruto waved off, pausing to read the name of the Professor for the first class on his timetable.

"You are not setting a good example." Ozpin commented, taking an occasional sip.

"I'm 16, a year younger than most freshmen here, especially to my partner. I don't know who you want me to set an example for." Naruto shrugged. He knew what Ozpin was referring to, but he did not bother addressing it. "Ruby is fine on her own, she doesn't need me to be a standard she could adhere to."

"So, you don't doubt my decision?"

"Not one bit." Naruto answered, smiling softly as he watched the two teams enter the main doors. He made his way to follow, leaving the Headmaster and the Instructor to their own devices. "Although, the fact you put me in charge shows that you must have some screws loose..." He emphasized the word 'some' as he continued walking and slowly approached the doors and entered it without second thought. He also sported a small smirk as he did so, his mind has begun to work on overtime as he thought up ways to mess with Ozpin.

"That boy has the strangest way of thinking." Ozpin simply nodded his assent to Glynda's comment. The two teachers headed inside to get back to work. Though it was reassuring that Naruto placed faith in Ozpin's decision to have Ruby as a leader, it made the Headmaster question his own decision on making Naruto the leader of his team.

He could only hope he made the right choice.

* * *

"Monsters... Demons... Prowlers of the night..." A large man with grey hair and a matching moustache began, uncaring that the door to class opened and a certain whiskered blonde took a seat next to Blake. The man's name is Peter Port, the Grimm Studies Professor, evident by several diagrams depicting the creatures in very accurate detail. "Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names... but I merely refer to them as prey. Haha!" Professor Port's chuckle roused Ruby awake, who was dozing off even though Class has only just started.

Naruto simply leaned back on his chair as nobody said a word to the Professor's little joke. Anyone currently in that class would tell you that they did indeed hear crickets chirping. The Professor looked sheepish and continued his lecture, intent on saving face. "Uhh... And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy."

Professor Port continued by explaining that the Kingdom of Vale and the other three Kingdoms are safe havens in the world of Remnant. That the rest of the planet was practically overrun with the Grimm, who were mindless beasts that wanted nothing more other than bringing humanity to the brink of extinction.

The lecture continued somewhat boringly. Naruto ended up simply wiping his glasses over and over. Professor Port then explained the purpose of Hunters, people who chose to fight the Grimm more actively, people who protect those who are unable to do so on their own. At least there was one student who took the Professor's speech to heart, but he was simply a nondescript boy on the higher desks.

The Professor then went on about a story about himself. Ruby seemed to be occupying herself with doodling in her notebook, much to Weiss' growing ire. Ruby snickered as she showed her comical doodle of Professor Port with his belly greatly exaggerated. Naruto and Yang snickered when they saw it, more so when Ruby made a small farting noise with her mouth. Even Blake seemed amused as she held her sleeved arm to her mouth to cover her small smile.

Weiss on the other hand, was unamused. Their snickers attracted the Professor's attention, who cleared his throat before continuing as if nothing happened. "In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity. I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high, celebrated as a hero."

Professor Port did a bow, obviously proud at his achievements and telling his tales to the younger generation. "The moral of this story? A true Hunter must be honourable, dependable, strategic, well-educated and wise." Professor Port continued, nobody seemed to notice Weiss' growing anger and glaring daggers at Ruby. Said girl was busy goofing off in class, balancing her book and an apple atop a pen, trying to doze off or just plain picking her nose.

Nobody except Naruto, who simply raised a curious eyebrow. "So, who among you believes themselves as the embodiment of these traits?" Professor Port asked, Weiss shooting her hand up the moment the Professor opened his question to an answer.

"I do, sir!"

"_Ah, so that's what it is..."_ Naruto thought, figuring out why Weiss was being hard on Ruby.

"Well then, let's find out." Professor Port motioned to a cage that was rolled in by some custodians, it obviously contained a Grimm, but the steel barriers prevented people from seeing what it was other than the menacing red eyes all Grimm possess. "Change into your combat outfit and prepare to face your opponent."

Weiss ran off to the nearest locker room, eager to demonstrate that she was a much better leader than Ruby. The class erupted into light whispers as they waited for Weiss to return. Some watched the caged beast try and break out. Others simply did their own thing, Blake in particular opened her book again, while her partner doodled on some paper.

"So, how far are you with that book?" Naruto asked Blake. The girl looked surprised at his question, considering his reaction the previous day didn't look like he was particularly interested about it.

"I'm almost near the end. The part whe-" Blake began, but stopped when Naruto raised a finger to stop her.

"Don't spoil it for me." Naruto said smiling softly. "Can I borrow it after you're done?"

Blake was taken aback by that, but nodded her assent. "Jeez, get a room you two." Yang piped in, now watching the whole exchange with interest. Her blonde friend just kept making it easy for her to tease him. Naruto however, looked unaffected. The blonde boy looked across Blake and gave Yang a mischievous grin.

"Sure thing. Wanna join us?" Naruto teased back, unknowingly digging his own grave. Yang fell off her seat and looked shocked that Naruto flirted back, he usually wasn't able to handle teasing before. But now that she thought about it, Naruto has grown up from that time. Only Ruby was the one in their friendship that was still unable to cope with being teased.

"_Oh so you wanna play, foxy? Then let's play."_ Yang thought, inwardly smirking at how she could turn this around. "Alright. I guess I can learn to share, if it's my partner..." The effect was instantaneous. Naruto did the same as Yang, falling off his chair with a mad blush on his face. Even Blake, the normally cool and stoic girl had a slight dusting of red on what Yang said.

Of course Naruto's teenage mind started drifting off to the direction Yang's tease opened for him. Climbing back to his seat as his nose started dripping with small trickles of blood as he tried blocking the mental image. _"He's actually thinking about it?"_ Blake and Yang thought together with slight shock, seeing the dazed look and the nasal blood. They saw Naruto raise his fist and promptly slugged himself to get out of that train of thought.

The blonde boy nursed his cheek before sighing. He simply slammed his face to his desk, knowing Blake and Yang caught him fantasizing. Ruby, who was busy doodling looked in their direction after finishing her current masterpiece, and after feeling the table shake. "It's just like Naruto to doze off in class..."

"_You're one to talk, Ruby."_ Yang thought before her thoughts returned to the earlier exchange. She was open to the idea of sharing, but only if it was with Ruby. She wasn't sure if she was completely fine with Blake being another. _"And Weiss too by the looks of it..."_ She added to the train of thought. She figured the Schnee heiress also had some history with the blonde boy. Though what it was, she didn't know.

The only thing she did know about this situation, was that there was gonna be some heavy competition for Naruto's affection.

Blake, despite her stoic outward appearance, was inwardly musing the thought of her and the blonde boy like that. She was still a girl, and she did leave her previous employers to finally live a somewhat normal life. She would freely admit that the blonde boy grows on you, but a certain fear of hers kept her back from actively seeking potential love interests in the general populace of Vale.

Only time, and a little bit more observing, will tell if she does indeed fall hard for the blonde.

Weiss finally returned after another minute or so. Ruby went back to her seat after trying many times to get Naruto's face off the desk via poking him. The blonde boy only lifting it off the desk after Professor Port called attention that Weiss finally returned. The white-clad girl took on her usual ready stance, Port already waiting patiently at the cage's lock.

"Go Weiss!" Yang started, pumping her fist in the air as she cheered.

"Fight well." Blake continued, waving a small flag with their initials on it.

"Yeah! Represent Team RWBY!" Ruby cheered enthusiastically, both her arms shooting up to accompany her cheer.

"Ruby, I'm trying to focus!" Weiss snapped. Ruby looked sheepish as she apologized. The Schnee heiress took a breath, slightly turning her head to Naruto's direction with an expectant look. The boy just smiled and gave her a nod, knowing he need not verbalize his support. She turned back to her task even more confident than before, knowing she was being supported by Naruto.

"Alright. Let the match... Begin!" Professor Port called, using the same BlunderAxe that used to be hung on a mantle in the classroom. He used his old weapon to sever the lock, revealing a Boarbatusk eagerly rushing out of the cage and readying itself to attack Weiss.

The beast charged, Weiss sidestepping and slashing it as it passed her by. "Hang in there, Weiss!" Ruby cheered again. Weiss darted forward like an Ice Skater, fascinating Naruto with her chosen style, especially since this is the first time he saw her fight. Her blade however, got caught in the Grimm's tusk. "Come on, Weiss! Show it who's boss!" Ruby encouraged as Weiss continued to wrestle her sword out of the tusks.

The Boarbatusk flicked its head when Weiss got distracted, knocking Myrtenaster out of her grip and out of her reach. The beast followed by knocking Weiss away as well, making the distance between her and her weapon even greater. Professor Port felt it necessary to point that out. Weiss rolling away from the charging beast as he did so, and making a mad dash for her rapier. "Weiss, go for its belly! There's no armor undern-"

"Stop telling me what to do!" Weiss shouted angrily, stopping Ruby mid-sentence. The red-clad girl looked downcast and said nothing more. Weiss' opponent then rolled into an armored ball, protecting its weak-point in the process. Rolling towards Weiss, who used her semblance to create another of her multi-purpose glyphs, knocking the beast out of its ball form and onto its back.

She leaped back on another and used it to launch herself at high speed, impaling the Boarbatusk who was unable to stand back up. "Bravo! Bra-vo!" Professor Port congratulated, as Weiss held her sword and panted a bit to regain some strength. "It seems we are indeed in the presence of a true Huntress-in-training."

Standing up, Weiss placed her sword on her waist, ignoring Ruby's downcast look. "I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and stay vigilant. Class dismissed." Professor Port finished. Weiss spun on her heel and left, not bothering to look at her teammates at all.

"Sheesh, what's with her." Jaune watched. Ruby steeled herself and chased after her, seeing as she was her partner.

* * *

"Weiss!" Ruby called as she caught up to Weiss who just turned a corner.

"What!?"

"What's wrong with you? Why are you being-"

"'What's wrong with me?' What's wrong with you!?" Weiss countered sharply, making Ruby flinch slightly at the tone. "You're supposed to be a leader, and all you've been so far is a nuisance!"

"What did I do!?" Ruby retorted, becoming equally angry.

"That's just it. You've done nothing to earn your position!" Weiss began, Ruby listening intently. "Back in the forest, you acted like a child and you've only continued to do so."

"Weiss... where is this coming from?" Ruby asked, slowly becoming depressed. "What happened to all the talk about 'working together'. I thought you believed in acting as a team..."

"Not a team led by you." Weiss answered. "I study, and train, and quite frankly I deserve better." She turned around and crossed her arms. "Ozpin, made a mistake." She finished before storming off. Ruby looked absolutely crestfallen at what Weiss meant. She dejectedly turned around to return to their dorm room.

"Hmm... Now that didn't seem to go very well." Ozpin said, appearing next to Ruby as she made her way back.

"Was she right? Did you make a mistake?"

"That remains to be seen." Ozpin answered, taking a sip of his coffee.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, it's only been one day." Ozpin replied, looking directly into Ruby's curious and hopeful eyes. "Ruby, I've made more mistakes than any man, woman and child on this planet." He had a sombre look, as if he recollected all his failures in that instant. "But at this moment, I would never consider your appointment to leader to be one of them. Do you?" He asked leaning in close.

Ruby paid rapt attention as the man continued. "Being a team leader isn't just a title you carry into battle. It is a badge you wear constantly." Ozpin took a sip to quench his dry mouth. "If you aren't always performing at your absolute best, then what reason do you give others to follow you?" Ruby replayed Ozpin's words in her head, the Headmaster staying quiet to let it sink in.

After a few minutes passed, Ruby nodded her head. She was slowly getting what the Headmaster was saying. Ozpin continued. "I will admit. At first, I questioned if what I did was right. But Mr. Namikaze seems to have faith in my choice. That was enough to dissuade my fears that I made another foolish choice."

"Naruto... has faith... in me?" Ruby muttered aloud, Ozpin nodding even though Ruby was no longer looking at him. She felt her cheeks heat up, much to Ozpin's inward amusement.

"_Yes. Despite his own lack of faith in terms to his own appointment as leader." _Ozpin turned around after glancing at his watch and seeing his break time being over. "You've been burdened with a daunting responsibility. I advise you take some time to think abut how you will uphold it."

Ruby turned around again after Ozpin left, she saw Weiss talking to Professor Port in the balcony. She looked on sadly as she continued playing Ozpin's words in her head. Turning around again and heading back to their dorm room.

(Earlier with Weiss)

After she stormed off from her conversation with Ruby in the hallway, Weiss found herself on the balcony, seeing only Professor Port there watching Beacon as the sun slowly descended over the horizon.

"Professor Port!" She called as she walked up to the burly man.

"Ah, Ms. Schnee. And to what do I owe this fine pleasure?" The man asked as he gave a small bow.

"I... I enjoyed your lecture."

"Of course you did child. You have the blood of a true Huntress in you." He reassured.

"You really think so?" Weiss soaked up the praise in a discreet way. Professor Port answered in the affirmative before asking Weiss if there was something bothering her. Weiss looked away before looking back to the teacher. "Yes, Sir."

"Dear girl, confess to me your strife!" He exclaimed.

"Well... I think I should have been the leader of Team RWBY."

"That's preposterous."

"Excuse me!?"

"I believed in Professor Ozpin for many years." Professor Port began, Weiss listening to his reasoning. "And the man has never once led me astray."

"So you would blindly accept his decision even after seeing how exceptional I am?" Weiss asked pointedly.

"With all due respect, your exceptional skill in the battlefield is matched only by your poor attitude." He replied. Weiss looking offended at the remark.

"How dare you!"

"My point exactly." Professor Port deadpanned. "I see a girl before me who has spent her entire life getting exactly what she wanted."

"That's not even remotely true." Weiss said, crossing her arms as Professor Port raised one of his bushy eyebrows. "Well... not entirely true..."

"So, the outcome did not fall in your favour. Do you really believe that acting in such a manner would cause those in power to reconsider their decisions?" The armor-piercing question figuratively made Weiss' eyes slowly open. Realizing that she was acting in the way Ruby had in the forest. "So instead of fretting over what you don't have, savour what you do." Professor Port paused to catch his breath. "Hone your skills, perfect every technique and be NOT the 'Best Leader', but the 'Best Person' you can be."

Professor Port jovially took his leave. Weiss stood in the balcony alone to gather her thoughts and let the talk sink in. She did not notice Ruby stare at her from a door before leaving.

"I'll admit, Ruby isn't exactly the sharpest Kunai in the pouch."

Weiss turned around and saw Naruto leaping down from an adjacent rooftop. He dusted himself off and snapped his fingers, a faint bluish-purple glow surrounding his body flared to life before disappearing. "That's a weird analogy to use."

"Is it?" Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. Truthfully he did not know where or when he heard that word or phrase. Inwardly shrugging, he focused his attention on Weiss again. "You're still wavering..."

"You were listening?"

"Kinda hard not to when you hear someone suddenly yell near your napping spot. Professor Port's hamminess did not help matters either." Naruto laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

"Do you...?"

"Understand? Yeah, I do." Naruto nodded as he answered the girl's question, turning to watch the setting sun. "Leadership is a hard burden to bear. Even I have a fear that Ruby might collapse under the pressure. But there is one way I definitely know of that can alleviate the burden, even by just the tiniest bit."

Weiss stared at him with a questioning look, silently asking him to answer his own cryptic words. Naruto turned to her fully to answer. "Friends. A Leader needs others to support them through thick-and-thin, to help shoulder the burden. That's where you, Blake and Yang come in. Ruby is still quite young, her innocence and naivety could lead to her making a decision with a harsh outcome."

Naruto paused briefly to let Weiss understand properly. "For example, if one were given the option to save a teammate against saving a whole town, what would one choose? Both choices carry consequences that will surely affect the Leader's psyche. And when that happens, it is up to the subordinates, the teammates, the friends to help the Leader get their faith in themselves back."

He turned back to the slowly disappearing sun as he continued. "It may not show up now, but I'm sure Ruby will be able to show you that she can be just as capable a leader as you, Blake or Yang. Just give her a little time, okay?" Naruto finished. Despite being younger than her, he patted her head before he leaped off the building.

Weiss simply stood there and processed the words from both parties. She took in deep breaths as she collected her thoughts, leaving shortly after the sun fully disappeared over the horizon.

* * *

The door to Team RWBY's dorm room opened. Entering the room, Weiss saw that Naruto had already completed his work on their beds. Unlike before, both pairs were now attached by their bed posts properly with sturdier materials rather than the makeshift ones they used. Ruby's privacy curtain was now properly suspended through her extended bedposts and retractable rods.

She saw Blake and Yang were now fully asleep. _"Not surprising, considering the time..." _Weiss thought. Having spent her evening wandering the campus before heading to dinner and back to bed. She headed to her own, unable to ascertain Ruby's sleep status because of her privacy curtain

She climbed up the stepladder and unfurled it to show a napping Ruby, with her homework out and her coffee mug in disarray, thankfully it was empty and nothing spilled out. Weiss looked a little surprised at what Ruby was doing, but nudged her awake anyway.

Ruby tossed a bit before flinching back when she saw who woke her up. "Weiss! I... I was studying and I fell asleep. I'm sorry." She would have continued to make excuses had Weiss not silenced her and motioned her to keep her voice down.

"How do you take your coffee?"

"I don't-" Ruby wanted to deflect, wondering what that had to do with anything. But Weiss immediately and sternly ordered her to answer the question. "Cream and five sugars!" Weiss sighed tiredly at the near-predictable answer. She told Ruby to stay there before running off to the student lounge, where the 24/7 coffee machine was. Coming back shortly with a new cup for Ruby, who looked both surprised and grateful. "Umm... Thanks, Weiss."

Weiss glanced at Ruby's work before speaking again. "Ruby... I think you have what it takes to be a good leader..." She said, slightly smiling now as Ruby's eyes widened. "Just know, that I'm going to be the best teammate you will ever have." Ruby recovered from her shock before smiling brightly at having Weiss' support. Weiss wished her good luck in studying, stepping down from the stepladder as she did so. "That's wrong by the way." She briefly climbed back up and pointed out a mistake in Ruby's assignment before leaving to take a bath and change.

"Hey, Ruby?"

"Yeah?"

"I always wanted bunk beds as a kid." Weiss finished as she closed the door behind her, Ruby returning to her work as she did so.

"_Thank you... Professor Port... Naruto..."_

(Same Time, Elsewhere)

Several gunshots were heard as two figures ran across Vale's Industrial District. A man tiredly panted as he hid behind a wall, preventing his mysterious assailant from shooting him. Taking a peek and narrowly avoiding a new spray of bullets. He performed a blind-firing to buy himself some time, running off once his clip was empty.

The 'mouse', so to speak, ran into a dimly lit warehouse filled with cargo containers. He maneuvered the labyrinthine area, hearing the doors he entered through slam open. He reached the exit door a few minutes later but found it sealed shut. He tried everything from kicking it down and shooting open the lock but all were futile.

"What do you want from me!?"

"What I want from you?" The 'cat' chuckled ominously. "I'm sure you know exactly what I want from you." 'Cat' said as he continued his laughter, 'Mouse' was now visibly shaking as his eyes darted across the room, searching for 'Cat'. "Your crimes are too many to simply let go."

'Mouse' eyes widened as he heard the last sentence come from behind him. He turned around, only in time to see a spinning blue ball of Dust energy slam onto the middle of his back, directly at his heart. He felt his insides being teared to pieces before he was blasted back into several cargo containers, pinning his limp body to the opposite wall.

"I'd rest easy, knowing scum like you are gone from our world. Good riddance." 'Cat' finished as he left the warehouse. Snapping his fingers and creating a bluish-purple glow around his body. With a mighty leap, he jumped to the nearest rooftop and headed back home.

Back to Beacon Academy.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

I know that there is a lot of focus on Weiss here. But Ep.9-10 does focus on her becoming more friendly towards Ruby. It's basically her first character development episode.

I know that there wasn't much going on with Team LMNS, Naruto being the only one present (even then, it felt like he just popped in from time-to-time), but I have to stick to canon since it's both the story parameters and Ep.9-10 is the first day of classes. They'll show up more later.

Since Ep.11-12's setting is a few months apart from the first day, this means that I can now begin the Original Arcs. I put up a poll on my profile that would determine who the subplot of the first arc could be focused on. It won't affect the Arc's main plot, just a few tweaks here and there. So go vote!

Initially I was torn on whether I should have just made Naruto take Port's lines and have him change Weiss, but as you can see I went the other way and had him give his own thoughts on the matter.

It should be pretty obvious who 'Cat' is, right? Don't worry, Naruto isn't like some RWBY-verse Dexter, that is if the small hints I've been giving led you to that conclusion.

Anyways, the poll's timeframe is roughly about a week or so, maybe less. I'll be working on finishing the next chapter of 'Fairy Knight' and rewriting the first chapter of 'A Gaming World' before working on the next chapter of this. After that I'll try and make a proper cycle on what gets updated.

That's all for now. If you need further explanation on some points, just Review or PM me.


	5. Verdant Fields

**Verdant Fields**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

* * *

Another day arrived in Beacon Academy. Students began waking from their daily slumber and performing their morning rituals. In Beacon, students were grouped into teams consisting of a four-man cell. It mattered not whether they were all boys, girls or a mixture. They stayed in the same dorm room as their teammates, so as to promote team spirit and co-existence.

One peculiar team was like this. A team that housed the most unlikely group was now waking with the sunrise, in a certain Dorm Room 189. If there was one thing a certain blonde team leader would be thankful for to Professor Ozpin, it was that his shared dorm room was at the end of the hall. Because of that, it was easy for him to remake the room into something he was comfortable with.

He did just that the other night.

If one of the other Freshmen entered Dorm Room 189, they would definitely be surprised at the sight that would greet them. A sentiment shared by none other than Ruby Rose, who woke up early despite staying up late to finish the reading assignment Professor Port dismissed them with.

"How..." Ruby began as she tried picking up her jaw from the ground. Following her eyes led to the sight of a completely different room than the rest of the other Freshmen. She had seen Team JNPR's room, hell even when she passed through Team CRDL's door she saw that they had the same. But this was insane.

Of course, if she ever saw the room from outside the building it would make slightly more sense.

The most easily noticeable thing you could see once you enter the room was the ridiculously large, circular window at the end. The curtains on it were all pulled back and tied with properly with the matching rope. Next was the lounge that made up the center of the room, with the carpet being neatly combed and had matching couches and a stylish coffee table. On the sides of the lounge was what Ruby could assume was the personal areas, judging by the individual paint jobs and different colored carpets.

"I know what you're thinking." A voice popped in from behind Ruby, who jumped in surprise but calmed down slightly when she saw that it was just Lea. "'How did he do all this in one night?', right?" Ruby could only nod at the spot-on assumption. The fiery redhead partner of Naruto laughed heartily before answering. "He has quite the... weirdest? Let's go with weirdest... set of abilities, you can find in a partner."

"What kind?"

"Ah, ah, ah. Can't tell you that. I'm sworn to secrecy." Lea said with a teasing grin. Ruby pouting cutely as Lea laughed again and motioned for her to go sit on their couch first. She did so, taking in more of the sights inside the room. She saw that each individual area had their beds and were fixed with privacy curtains that matched the general color scheme of their area.

The one closest to the window was orange, making it glaringly obvious to Ruby that it was Naruto's. The other areas were a fiery red, a lime green and a baby blue. The red one had a fire-like theme and was filled with photo frames of Lea with various people, which Ruby assumed was either friends or family. The lime green one was odd since it had a cute frog design and had cute stuffed animals. If not for the posters of various Magical Girls and other related paraphernalia, she would have assumed the baby blue side was Mikoto's.

"Yeah. Got us by surprise too. Didn't know she had that girly side to her." Lea chimed in as he slouched on the couch opposite of Ruby and switched the topic. "I remember when me and Naruto first entered the room. The guy felt so cramped, he wasted no time in renovating the whole place into what you see now."

"How did he exactly do all this without raising a sound or even alerting a staff member?" Ruby questioned in both awe and disbelief. She figured Naruto must have gotten really good with tools. Fixing up their beds was nothing compared to expanding a small dorm room into a suite. Lea was about to answer, but Ruby raised her finger with a deadpan expression. "Let me guess, 'sworn to secrecy' again?"

Lea nodded, but he still had to defend his friend and partner. "I'm sure he'll tell you when he's ready. Girlfriends should be patient, y'know?"

"W-Wha-? I-I'm not his g-girlfriend!" Ruby stuttered as a mad blush crossed her face, much to Lea's amusement. _"Though, I want to be... wait, stop... Brain don't go there!"_ She grabbed one of the throw-pillows and promptly smothered her embarrassed face in as her thoughts started drifting to more... inappropriate ones. _"Stupid Yang! Why did she have to buy and leave those books out in the open?"_ She thought angrily as her mind then drifted to the set of books that made her knowledgeable in those thoughts in the first place. _"No. If I'm gonna blame someone, it will have to be the author of those books!"_ She thought as a miniature dark aura enveloped her as she lifted her face off the throw-pillow.

Somewhere far away, a certain white-haired old pervert sneezed and felt a chill run up his spine. Shaking it off as a trick of the wind, he continued watching a group of women bathe in a hot spring, jotting down notes in a little black notebook and giggling perversely as he did so.

"Uhh.. Ruby?" Lea began worriedly, seeing her now sporting a menacing grin that did not match her normally innocent behavior.

"Huh? Oh, sorry about that!" Ruby apologized, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly like a certain blonde team leader. Deciding to get on track, she asked for the whereabouts of her friend. "Where is Naruto, anyway?"

Lea was about to answer, but the main door opened. The snickering form of Naruto entering the room with what looks like a bag of coffee in his hands. "Speak of the devil..." He muttered, jerking his head in his partner's direction to signal his arrival to Ruby.

Naruto mischievously stowed the bag of coffee in one of the cupboards in the mini-kitchen that Ruby was just now noticing. She abruptly stood up and went to greet her friend. "Naruto! Good morning!"

The snickering blonde jumped in surprise, having been too busy with his early morning mischief to notice Ruby and Lea on the couch. He quickly closed the cupboard and turned to face Ruby. "H-Hey. Uh... Nice morning isn't it?" Naruto returned. Ruby was no stranger to Naruto's tendency to cause mischief via pranks. What did make her worried though was who Naruto's current victim was, and she knew that somehow that bag of coffee was involved. "So, do you need something, Ruby?"

"W-Well... I was thinking that maybe... we could walk to class together?" Ruby stammered shyly, drawing her thoughts on the current matter. Naruto blinked at the odd request but nodded his assent, though he found it weird that Lea was sporting a knowing grin in his direction.

Inside Ruby's head, a mini-Ruby was bouncing on her heels with cheerfulness at being able to spend more time with him. Outwardly though, Ruby simply beamed a cute smile to hide her small blush on her face. It was quite infectious as even Naruto couldn't help but smile with her. He headed to his bedside and grabbed the container for his glasses, returning to Ruby's side after he did so and making their way to the door. It was still quite early, since all classes start at 9. So they had a chance to enjoy a walk around campus for an roughly an hour and a half.

* * *

Ruby let out an unnoticeable, dejected sigh. Her plan to spend some alone time with her blonde crush was quickly derailed by the one fact, that being: that Lea was still with them. It got even more derailed when after exiting Team LMNS' room, the rest of Team RWBY joined in. Not too surprising, considering all Freshmen were in the same floor.

She would have preferred Team JNPR or the other two from Team LMNS to be the ones here. Because she knew that in one way or another, everyone in Team RWBY had an interest in the blonde. Naruto obviously liked Yang, who may or may not like him back. Ruby didn't really know what her sister's feelings are for him. Blake was complicated, but Ruby knew she was beginning to make a connection. Then there was her and Weiss. She didn't expect that the white-haired heiress would end up being her rival in more ways than one.

She shook off her thoughts, feeling a minor headache forming at over-analyzing her plans on trying to win Naruto's affections. She took notice of how the passing Team CRDL had a few hushed whispers as they walked past them. Naruto didn't seem to mind what they were saying, either that or he just didn't show it. They still had time before class starts, so they chose to go to the student lounge. Though, if Team LMNS room had a television in it, it could be a lounge all on its own.

"What's going on?" Ruby asked one of the students paying rapt attention to the news report on the TV. Their whole group focused on watching as the student answered.

"There's been a murder in Vale's Industrial District." He said, turning his attention back to the TV. Ruby decided to not inquire further and turned her attention to the TV as well.

"Workers found a shocking discovery as they punched in the clock today, when the Kingdom of Vale's Head Councilor of the Industrial District was found pinned to a wall, dead in one of the warehouses in the District." The news report began, much to the shock of several students watching the news, our heroes included. "The victim in question, one Wang Chin Po was once charged with several accounts of Physical and Sexual Assault, Murder, Weapons and Drug Smuggling, and multiple unpaid parking tickets. All charges however, were dropped due to 'inconsistent proof', fueled further when his subordinate Alexander Hoden, a minor councilor directly under his supervision confessed to all the former crimes. Hoden is now serving a life sentence in Vale Penitentiary, while Wang served a 6-month probationary period for his parking tickets, which was just recently completed." Lisa Lavender paused as she was notified of something. "This just in, Reporter Max Rigettare is now on the scene."

The news switched to the scene of the crime, one Naruto was not a stranger to seeing. He made sure to keep his poker face up as he continued watching. The on-site reporter was a rather plain-looking man, sharp eyes can see that there were barely unnoticeable traces of vomit on the man's face. "Thank you, Lisa. We're here on the scene as the police officers preserve the scene of the crime." The camera man zoomed in on Wang's corpse, showcasing the spot on the back where Naruto's attack hit. The forensic team taping off the area and several key points, taking the necessary pictures. The crew then caught up and hailed the attention of a blue haired police officer. "Chief Wiggum! Can you tell us anything at all about the attack? Anything at all?"

"I suppose I can spare a few words. Keep in mind this is still the preliminary stage and information may not be completely accurate." Wiggum answered. He was quite the portly man, having an obvious beer belly. "According to our forensic team, the victim has struggled with his assailant, evident by the pistol on the ground and several bullet holes that spanned a few kilometers from here to the nearby club, The Escapade. This suggests that he was attacked once he left the club, most likely through a similar weapon."

"And the circumstances surrounding his death?" Max queried.

"Merely speculation, but our team believes he was killed by a new type of Dust-work ability." Wiggum answered, the camera zooming in on the mark on the corpse's back again.

"Would it be possible for this to be labeled as an Assassination?"

"Unlikely. All Four Kingdoms are forbidden from fighting each other outside the Hunter Festivals. If this were an act of aggression by another Kingdom, it could very well spark a war."

"Then perhaps revenge? I will admit not many were satisfied with his trial's outcome and refuse to believe he was innocent in all those crimes." Max pried.

"I'm no Psychologist, but studies have shown that an avenger would often and most likely torture his victim to revel in their pain, before giving them death. We can't say much more, due to lack of information." Wiggum replied shaking his head as his team finished up capturing the crime scene and took down the body. Max then interviewed several civilians who were watching the scene from behind the police tape. Many voicing their views on Wang's supposed innocence. Most voiced their theories that the man must have paid off the court to let him off.

"_Not really a theory when it was supposed to be blatantly obvious that was what he did."_ Naruto thought bitterly. It was the very likely outcome, considering the man's job. That's why Naruto came after him. He knew that that was exactly what Wang did, the only thing he was missing was how Hoden was tied to all this.

"And there you have it, folks." Max began as he prepared to hand over his segment back to Lisa. "The people of Vale have had their voices heard. This recent development has certainly renewed the investigation of the Hoden case. Is Wang Chin Po really just a normal councilor with a bad parking habit? Only further investigation will reveal the answer. Back to you Lisa."

"Thanks, Max. In other news..."

The two partners and Team RWBY averted their eyes from the TV. Heading to their class for the day. "A new Dust-work ability, huh?" Yang began, deciding to use a different topic to start the conversation. "Hey, doesn't your dad do research in new Dust abilities?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. He often has me test the new ones first, though I don't think he gave me one that could do that kind of damage." He then turned to Weiss to ask his question to keep the conversation going. "Maybe it was mined by your family's company?"

"Not likely." Weiss returned, shaking her head in the negative. "The mines are only for the common ones. If one of our employees stumble upon a new type, a team of researchers are always nearby to send it to our labs. It may be possible that an employee smuggled it. But like I said, it is very unlikely."

"Bah, why are we talking about this super-serious stuff? Let's talk about something else." Lea requested. Naruto responded by saying that it was only a natural reaction born when someone witnesses events like that. Lea shrugged, not really minding the situation since it really ha dnothing to do with them. "So, what class we got today?"

"Oh, right!" Ruby exclaimed, pulling out her timetable to find out what class they had. "Hmm... History of Remnant with Professor Bartholomew Oobleck."

"Alright then, let's get going!" Lea exclaimed as they rushed to class. That news report took more time than they thought, making them dangerously close to a few minutes before class starts. Naruto would have walked at his usual casual pace, had Ruby and Weiss not pulled him along by his arms. Ruby because she wanted him to sit next to her, and Weiss because she does not want him to constantly be late for every class on the first week.

* * *

Professor Oobleck was... strange. He sported spiky, forest-green hair and had circular glasses that kept his eyes hidden due to the thick opacity. His suit was very unkempt and his desk was littered with papers and other files that kept the general area untidy. But what easily set him apart from Professor Port was the fact that he kept zipping across the room as he continued his lecture. It didn't stop there, as even when they entered the classroom, the hyperactive Professor seems to zip about even as he sorted his lesson plan.

Naruto was, surprisingly enough, listening to the lecture. If only to keep up with the Professor's speed of talking. He may hate studying, but he acknowledges the Professor's favored quote of: 'History is important! If you can't learn from it, you are destined to repeat it.' It helps that Oobleck was very pro-active, but that may be because it has only been one day with Professor Port.

_Ding-Dong!_

The class heard the announcement bell ring. Professor Oobleck paused his lecture to pay rapt attention. "Would Teams CRDL, JNPR, RWBY and LMNS please report to the Headmaster's Office. I repeat..." They heard Glynda's voice say over the speakers.

"I assume it is for that. And considering that all four teams are in my class..." Professor Oobleck said, zipping to another side of the room after taking a sip of his coffee. "Factor in the time remaining for class... Very well. Class is dismissed early, don't forget to read Chapters 1 and 2 of your text book." He zipped back to his desk. "We will have a small quiz on it on our next meeting."

The class dispersed out of the hyperactive Professor's room. The aforementioned teams all heading to Ozpin's office, which was slightly near the clock-tower Lea and Naruto went to. Upon arrival, they were ushered in and accompanied by Glynda to the office itself. At the back was Professor Ozpin, but unlike last time he sported some bags under his eyes.

"Yo, Wizard! What's wrong? You look like shit..." Naruto asked casually. Weiss elbowed him lightly for being so casual in the Headmaster's presence.

"Language, Namikaze." Glynda reprimanded, sighing after Naruto waved off her scolding again. She decided not to press the issue further and resigned herself to remember never to reprimand a boy who keeps ignoring it.

"It's fine, Glynda." Ozpin began. He seemed ready to nod off as he did so. "Now, I have called you all here to inform you of your preliminary duties."

"Duties?" Was the collective response of the gathered students.

"As you know, Remnant is a very harsh world overrun by the creatures of Grimm. Outside the Four Kingdoms' larger cities are smaller towns. But unlike the cities, these places are not entirely protected by an Aura Barrier." Ozpin stood up from his desk and walked over to a map of Vale. "For example, Vale is protected two-fold by both Signal and Beacon via the large Dust crystal on both that casts the Aura Barrier to protect the city en masse." He said circling the two Academies.

"Even then, not all cities are like Vale." Weiss continued for him. Ozpin returning to his seat, a little drowsily as he did so. "Some cities use very high walls to keep the Grimm away. Vale is special because this city houses the Royal family. Its the same with the other Three Kingdoms."

"Ms. Schnee is correct. However, not even high walls can keep the Grimm away from the people. You have to take into account the roads in between the cities, or worse... the open sea and sky between continents." Glynda commended Weiss before she took the reins for the explanation. "There's a reason why traveling across continents is to be done as fast as possible. The Grimm you have encountered in the Emerald Forest is only a few of the possible types that exist out there."

"Can we get to the point of us being here?" One of Team CRDL's members, Russel Thrush requested.

Ozpin called in before Glynda could reprimand Russel. "Simple. How do you make sure that people aren't attacked while they travel? Even with our current technology, it is impossible for ships, airships, trains and caravans to arrive at their destination all in one day."

Ruby adopted a thinking look, before her eyes lit up as she figured the answer. "By having Hunters accompany them?"

Ozpin nodded, showing that it was a correct answer. "Correct. This is what you are called here for. There are simply too many Grimm and too many jobs for the Guilds to handle on their own. Hence, even Hunters-in-Training, i.e. you, are to take on missions even as you attend this Academy."

"Did your friend tell you about this?" Naruto asked Lea, nodding his head in the affirmative.

"Yeah. But I didn't think it would be this early though."

Ozpin explained further to clear away the confusion. "That's because today is only to inform you of this. The official start day for taking on missions is on Saturday this week. Not only is this for you to get a chance to see the world and meet full-fledged Hunters, this would also let you gain real experience in fighting the Grimm. Even back at the Emerald Forest, the hidden Instructors would not have let any of the Grimm actually kill you."

"Yeah, and unlike the Emerald Forest, we are totally free game to being killed out in the wild." Dove Bronzewing said sarcastically. Creating a chain of eye rolls that followed after the comment. Only Jaune seemed to be shaken up by the comment.

"Yes. But that would just mean I was mistaken in your skills." Ozpin stated, drinking from his cup with a sour look. "As harsh as it may sound, that is simply how it is. Taking in missions isn't necessary this early on. But if you have confidence in your skills at this point, you have free reign to pick one at any time. Though I must remind you, that a set number is also a requirement for graduation."

Glynda explained that not all missions are about escorting cargo across the lands. There was quite a variety of missions to do. Like gathering herbs from rare plants, defending a town from a pack of Grimm, hunting a specific monster, exterminations, etc. She then explained that all missions are to only be taken by four members, they can have more but not less. Four was the minimum.

Blake noticed something about this and voiced her thoughts. "Wait. Wouldn't this affect our studies?"

"Yes. But it is your responsibility to keep up to date with the work. Missions can be taken with anyone from different Teams, so long as there is four of you. That is one way for you to keep up with your schoolwork." Ozpin answered as he leaned forward and intertwined his fingers, resting his chin and tired face upon it. "This is a way to be adaptable and learn to work together with people you may not be familiar with. If you join a Hunter's Guild after graduating, it is a given that you will be teaming up with a lot of different people as you."

Ruby deflated at that. Having already had trouble trying to befriend Weiss, only to find out there was a chance for more awkward small talk after graduating._ "But then again... if Naruto and I get together, we can make a super-awesome fairy tale Hunter family that can take on missions together! We'd be like that family of superheroes from that movie!"_ Thankfully for Ruby, no one was paying attention to her reddened face. So her thoughts were safe from any awkward assumptions from an outside party.

Ozpin uncharacteristically let out a yawn, resulting in him cursing under his breath. As he watched this, Naruto kept his face as straight as possible. No reason to expose himself as the perpetrator of the Headmaster's misfortune. "Normally, this would be announced to Freshmen on this Saturday, thus making the following weekend the start day for undertaking missions. But circumstances arose when Beacon received an urgent mission. Glynda, if you would."

She took over the briefing, pointing to the map with her wand. "The Hunter's Guild forwarded us an urgent mission request. The town of Arbor, located to the far south of Vale is currently suffering from an illegal tollgate spearheaded by a corrupt businessman. Other details are unknown, but Grimm have been sighted stalking the town during nightfall. Chances of fighting your fellow man is also likely. This would rank this mission to at least a B-Rank, where you will also be payed appropriately. You task is to liberate the town through whatever means necessary."

"I'll take it." Naruto said without even the barest hints of hesitation. Ozpin nodded and entered Naruto's name on the files.

"Wait! Not even an 'Are you sure about this?'. Fast approved, just like that?" Weiss questioned.

"Of course. If one believes they are ready to take on the task, then so be it. I will not ask for re-confirmation when one undertakes a mission. If you come to me to take one, you must be absolutely certain about it." Ozpin stated, giving Naruto a knowing look. Truthfully, Ozpin fully expected Naruto to take on the mission, considering the entailed parameters. And despite his carefree attitude towards schoolwork, there was no doubt when it came to his fighting prowess.

"Alright then, you all are dismissed. Namikaze, this mission will be posted on the mission board downstairs. Like all missions, you need a minimum of four people to start it. Your teammates can vary on this mission, including your Upperclassmen."

Naruto gave a nod at Glynda's follow-up explanation. The students all left the room, Team CRDL already speed-walking away as they exited the door. They then heard Glynda call in another batch of Freshmen through the intercom. "That was evil with what you did with Ozpin." Lea began as they made quite a fair amount of distance from the Headmaster's office.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Naruto calmly deflected Lea's accusation.

"Don't play dumb. That coffee bag earlier this morning? You switched his usual cup of joe with Decaf, didn't you?" Lea elaborated. Naruto's smirk confirmed his suspicions as Ruby's eyes widened at the recent memory. Ruby would have chastised him for pranking the Headmaster, but Yang pinned Naruto to a nearby wall, her hands clutching the scruff of his collar.

"You stupid idiot! What the hell were you thinking taking on that mission without a second thought?" She yelled angrily as her eyes slowly turned red to match her anger. The others tried to placate the angry blonde as Naruto calmly stared at her through his glasses. It's not that she's afraid of the world outside Vale's barrier. Rather, she was simply looking out for her treasured friend. Even if he was a very capable Hunter, she felt that his decision back there was simply too rash.

"Simple. Field work beats desk work." Naruto answered. He knew that nearly everything that happened in the Emerald Forest was all too real. But it was also a controlled environment, if only by a little. "I understand that you are worried. But if it really bugs you that much, why don't you just join me on it?"

Yang huffed as she released him. "Damn right, I'm joining you! Someone needs to make sure you don't do anything stupid..." She rushed back to Ozpin's office to get her name added, leaving the rest of the group behind.

"Man, you and your girlfriend need to have your talks in private more." Lea whistled. Naruto got a slight dusting of red on his cheeks, but tried to hide it and maintain his cool composure by adjusting his glasses by the bridge instead of by the rim.

"She's not his girlfriend!" Ruby and Weiss said at the same time, surprising each other before lightning sparked as they stared the other one down. Jaune put the pieces together and cried in a comical way, muttering 'he's so lucky!' as he hugged his knees close. Pyrrha and MIkoto simply looked confused at him, Ren looked tired, Sera was busy bugging the reading Blake while Nora was staring at Naruto's face intently.

"Err... is there something on my face?"

"Yeah... Can I touch those?" Nora shouldn't have bothered asking as she began touching his whisker marks before he could answer. Her pokes then became strokes as she heard quite the curious sound effect from him. Naruto's normally happy-go-lucky demeanor changed as his light blush grew at being embarrassed. Everyone was in close proximity to each other, making it certain that the bubbly girl wasn't the only one who heard.

"Did you just... purr?" Ren asked horrified, but it was not for himself. His eyes drifted to the stock-still Nora, waiting for the inevitable to arrive.

"Oh. My. God! That is so adorable! I didn't know those were real! But to hear you actually purr was like something I totally did not expect..." Nora gushed as she continued talking in her usual rapid pace. Naruto wondered how a topic about his whiskers suddenly turned to one of her dreams fighting carrot people. As she talked Nora never stopped stroking his whiskers, Sera joining in the stroking as Naruto couldn't stop his body from reacting with more purrs. Hell, even Pyrrha gave it a try.

"... And then I was like in the final boss battle with the Carrot Emperor, my hammer against his carrot scepter and it was like- wait, where did he go?" Ren pointed tiredly to the disappearing form of Naruto running at full speed in the distance. He didn't mind throwing him under the bus, since he hardly catches a break from Nora. The bubbly girl and Sera gave chase as they weren't done stroking the whiskers. Having found out that each whisker gave a different tone to the resulting purr, somewhat like a xylophone.

The rest of the group shook their head before dispersing as they went about the rest of their day. Meeting together again at dinner time in the cafeteria.

* * *

Saturday came around quickly. The schooldays were arranged so that each day consisted of one class, the afternoons being used for independent training. Thursday was a Herbology class with Professor Peach, while Fridays were Mixed Sciences but was handled by a substitute due to the regular instructor being on vacation.

Naruto was waiting by a cafe at Vale's south gate. Glynda informed him that the trains were undergoing maintenance and the tollgate prevented caravans from entering Arbor Town's area, so the team will have to travel on foot. Speaking of teams, Naruto was informed last Friday that his mission finally got the necessary four members, but didn't say who they were. He only knew that one was definitely Yang.

Naruto heard his name being called in the distance. He stood up and looked to see, knowing it was most likely his teammates. His eyes widening as he saw Yang, but more to the two following behind her. It was Ruby and Sera. He didn't expect that his whole team would be people in his year. He half-expected that at least some Seniors would join in the task.

"You freshies are pretty ballsy taking on a B-Rank mission all by yourselves. Even most Seniors aren't completely confident in their skills to take on anything higher than High C-Rank ones." Naruto heard a voice call in from behind him. Turning around and locking eyes with a blue-haired boy with marine-colored eyes. He was wearing a short-sleeved, navy blue jacket with a light blue stripe going along his shoulders to the ends of his sleeves. The jacket's collar is rather high and is sky blue, as are the ends of the sleeves and the bottom hem of the jacket. There is a yellow crescent moon symbol prominently displayed on the left breast of the jacket.

He appears to wear a black undershirt, as well as white pants and black shoes with what appears to be a grayish trim on the bottom. His hair was combed backwards and had some degree of spikyness to it, along with neck length bangs on the side of his face. He also had navy blue bands on his wrist, pierced ears and a few ballistic shells strapped to his legs. His weapon was folded on his back waist.

"And you are?"

"Isa, Lea's Sophomore friend. He talks about you a lot lately, though we could have been introduced sooner had he actually remembered to." The boy said. Having already known about Naruto like most others in Beacon.

"Haha. That's sounds like my partner alright..." Naruto agreed. Lea could be pretty forgetful at times. Just yesterday when Naruto tricked him into switching Ozpin's coffee with Decaf again, Lea forgot to hide the regular bag and got caught when he tried to retrieve it, resulting in him getting detention from Glynda. "So, why are you here? On that note, did you just Ninja-In while I wasn't looking?"

"I guess you could say that." Isa chuckled as he answered the last question first. "Lea said you were kind of a stiff. Glad to see that he still gets mistaken at times." The blue-haired boy shared a light laugh with Naruto. "I'm here because I'll be accompanying you on this mission."

"So it's the five of us, huh?" Naruto muttered. The girls were just now arriving, having been sidetracked by some of the District's shops. He assumed that they simply weren't familiar with the Agricultural District of Vale. Naruto felt a presence from behind him, seeing Glynda teleport in via Dust-work magic. _"Gotta get a Dust Ability like that."_

"Good, you're all here." Glynda began. Preventing them from chatting by starting the briefing. "As you know, you will have to reach Arbor Town on foot due to circumstances beyond our control. You may have a Sophomore on your team, but for this mission Namikaze will be leader. That is all." She teleported out immediately after she finished.

"Well, looks like your in charge, Sleeping Leader." Isa commented. The girls would have asked who he was, but Naruto simply told them that introductions can be done on the road.

They had a town to save. And once they took that first step out into the green grass of Vytal's fields, they were on their own.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

This was supposed to be out last Tuesday. But in my defense, if you go and turn an entire continent upside down in an effort to find enough Gold to make an 80ft. golden cock and balls, you'd find that a lot of your time just flies away as you do so.

You can go ahead and shout stuff like 'filler' or 'Wave arc in all but name'. I said it before that an altered Naruto canon could take place to fill in the timeskips between RWBY canon's latter episodes. Plus, blatant copying is the foundation of the entertainment industry... Yeah I'm watching too much Zero Punctuation...

If you're wondering about the News report part, it's to show a little bit about what kind of person Naruto is in this world. This will come back into play for a later conflict (not the same case itself but something similar). I also just used a random name generator for those names. Ozpin's nickname of 'Wizard' is because he's based on 'The Wizard of Oz'.

Hopefully, I justified the reasons for the missions well enough. I mean, with the lack of actual data, I kinda have to wrinkle my brain for ideas. Plus, I believe it isn't too farfetched for this scenario to happen. Also, forgive me if my attempts at humor aren't working. I am trying to keep this fic have both serious and lighthearted moments. The title of the chapter also references the fact that they are going to an Agricultural Town.

Isa's cameo will span throughout this arc, which would last at least two more chapters after this. He's the same with Lea, slightly-altered BbS clothes and BbS eyes + Nobody's-hair. Ruby, Yang and Naruto will get a lot of focus on this, (not all) and will reveal some of their history together. Sera is there, since she's in second place on the poll which was a landslide victory for R/Y/N.

I guess that's all. I'll try and work on my other stuff first, since I did say I will try to cycle them. That is, if Minecraft doesn't seduce me to take up my pickaxe again...


End file.
